NIGHTLY DREAM LOG

17 Mar 2011
Same Shit-Stuck Behind Enemy Lines-Shit Dream

We were in some other asshole country again. I was in Recce operating in patrols of two jeeps. We were to advance and secure a bridge over a deep gorge with a raging river at the bottom. The bridge was about 100 metres across and 100 metres high. The advance went well, with only one small enemy placement found, which we bypassed and let the follow up troops handle. We came to a long ridgeline overlooking the bridge and reported it all appeared clear. Soon the follow on troops, Tanks and Lav-3s, took up position with us. We looked down at the bridge from about 3 kms away.

That night we foot patrolled down to the bridge. It was a dark cloudy night with a hint of rain in the air. We checked for explosives and damage. We crossed to the far side to check it out. Afterwards we snuck back to out positions, de-briefed and got some rest.

All was quiet the next day. Around midnight, the Infantry sent out a Recce patrol to take a look at some woodlines on the far side of the bridge. Unlike our side, the enemy side had no real overlooking crest, which was probably why they had not defended the bridge. They returned with no problems.

Brigade had intelligence that the enemy had enforced the next small village and crest line into a defensive position. It was decided to send a heavy recce team to check it out. This force consisted of tanks and Coyotes recce vehicle. We were were to secure the far side of the bridge and hold it until the recce returned. That night our foot patrol recce'd the far side. Before dawn we crossed in our jeeps to secure the sight. We had attached to us a Lav-3 with its Infantry section and a Bison mounting a .50 cal mg. The heavy recce force crossed and headed north late in the afternoon with the idea to arrive at the defended village by nightfall.

All was quiet during the day. About an hour after darkness we heard the first shooting coming from the north. The sharp pows of the tanks and the dum-dum-dums of the 25mm. Shortly afterward we came under artillery fire at the bridge. We hunkered down in our holes and waited it out. We survived with no casualties but the bridge had been hit twice. An Engineer patrol from the friendly side came down to assess damage, and reported it was still crossable.

Shortly afterwards 4 big trucks appeared from the south and raced up to the bridge. This was a unit of the National Army. As usual we had no idea they would be showing up, and our forces on the friendly side of the bridge eventually let them cross. The radio reported that the US mentor had reported that they had just got the call to go over and help with the Recce, which we thought was mostly a symbolic gesture to seem like their own troops were adding to the fight. Their trucks passed through us in the darkness, reeking of hashish. We wished them well.

The radio reported that the recce force was returning with minimal casualties. The first vehicles to arrive were 2 of the National Army trucks full to the brim with troops. Our sentry point well to the front of us stopped them, and then let them pass. The trucks passed through us, crossed the bridge and sped off to the south. Our heroes...

Soon we could hear the rumble of the Troop of tanks returning. As usual they sounded like they were close, but it took 10 minutes before they rolled through with the Coyotes. They reported to us that one Coyote had been damaged and was limping along towards us with his fire team partner. After about an hour they came up to us, the damaged Coyote first and then his partner with his cannon over the back deck towards the enemy. This Coyote stopped and reported that there were about 20 National troops along with thier US mentor coming this way on foot.

Shortly afterwards my Troop Leader came over the radio and told me to start thinning out my position. I sent the Lav 3 and the Bison back over the bridge. I suggested to my Troop Leader that it might be a good idea to send a second Bison forward to pick up the National army troops. He agreed and said he would handle it.I also decided to send both jeeps back and sent the drivers on their way to wait for us at the far end. So now there were the 4 of us.

Our sentry reported that he saw a large group of troops heading our way, over a km away. He reported they were not carrying any stretchers but were moving slowly. The 2 of us at the bridge moved forward to set up with the sentry team.

Shortly the National army guys strolled by, not appearing to be in much of a hurry. The American stopped to chat a bit, mostly about how they were not paying him near enough for this baby-sitting job. I told him we would wait until he crossed with his troops, then follow ourselves. It was about 2 hours till dawn.

The National army troops were just getting to the bridge when the first arty shells started dropping on the bridge. It didn't take them long to reach a full gallop. The bridge was hit several times and soon was uncrossable. Some of the army troops had made it to the far side. The artillery stopped suddenly.

We withdrew to the bridge. After looking at the shear drop-off both at our side and the other side and the raging river on the bottom, we quickly came to the conclusion we were not getting back across to the friendly side anytime soon. To add to that, we knew there were no other bridges or fording sites for at least 50 kms in both directions. I discussed with the Troop Leader the possiblility of a helicopter, but he said there were none available since we had lost 3 of them a week before and the rest were down for maintenance. The US had all their choppers busy in a major operation to our east. So it was decided that we stay on the enemy side and wait it out until the bridge could be repaired and the advance continued. We headed off to the east to hunker down in a treeline and wait it out for now. Same shit, stuck behind enemy lines, same shit.

We remained hidden in the treeline all day. Towards darkness our radio battery finally died, and we were really by ourselves. Not being ones to sit around doing nothing, it was decided we may as well do some patroling that night, if only to find an better position to observe the enemy. We headed out around midnight.

The map indicated a small elevated feature about a 4 kms north of our position and about 1 km east of the road to the next village. We slowly worked our way to it and got there well before dawn. We had stopped at a small stream to fill up on water and had also gathered apples from the ground under some trees. We each had 24 hours of rations on us, but we thought that the apples would come in handy. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that the little hill had some bushes on it, and soon developed a well camouflaged position. We got a observer rotation going and settled in for the day.

The defensive position was still about 13 kms north of us. During the day I had come to the decision that we may as well get close enough to observe the enemy position. But shortly after nightfall armoured vehicle noises from the north made us stay for a while. Apparently the enemy were now developing a position just to our north. We decided to stay where we were and observe this position. We heard vehicle noises, including tanks, off and on through out the night. In between we could heard the noise of troops digging in at a treeline about 1.5 kms away from us. We decided that we would check that out the next night.

The next night 2 of us stole away from our little position around 1100hrs. Our plan was to bypass the enemy position and approach from the rear if we could.
The first thing we came upon in the rear of the woodline was a dug in mortar position. We crept up to it and discovered there was no one at home. Probably figured there was no reason to man it during the night on this side of the woods. There were two mortars in it, big ones at that; 120mm range. We wanted to break them, but couldn't risk making any noise. So we scooped up some of the clay like dirt from the bottom of the pit and jammed this down the tubes, tamping them down with a stick. We hoped it would go unnoticed and that the heat of the day would bake them into a very solid brick like solid. We had to surpress our giggles as we thought of the enemy dropping the bombs down the tubes and only getting a thud from them.

From there we could also see 4 BMPs backed into the treeline, thus calculating that this was a platoon position. We couldn't see anything in the back of the treeline on the other side of the road,but decided not to press our luck and move over to that side. Fortunately, while we were there we heard a BMP start up over there for about 5 minutes. We concluded that there was probably another platoon dug in over there. With all this info, we slithered away from the mortar pit.

We got away safely and had a listening stop before starting our return leg. Just before we started off, we heard a tank engine start up from a treeline about 2 kms to the north. We had lots of darkness left so decided to take a look at this also. We soon were in a position about 200 metres from the treeline. We stayed there as long as we could. From the noises we heard, the quick glimpes of light, and the sentry changed we seen, we concluded that this was probably a tank hide. We turned back toward our position and crept away. When we got back we quietly discussed what we seen with the other 2, to ensure we all knew.

The day was uneventful except for the sounds of helicopters back towards our lines. I decided we had got all the info we could from here, and would return to the bridge area that night. We were about a km away from the river, close to our original position after being stranded, when we heard a helicopter coming our way from the direction of our lines. We had 1 IR glowstick with us, and we attached that to a piece of cord and twirled it around over head. Once it came towards us, we flashed it the night recognition signal. We figured that with this signal, and hopefully the fact that the pilot may know there are 4 friendlies in this area, we would be picked up. The chopper hovered some distance away, probably reporting this in. Shortly he came towards us and settled down next to us. We scurried aboard and soon were back at our lines briefing our OC.

Afterwards I bumped into the US mentor I had seen the night the bridge was shelled. Since I knew that he was at the rear of his troops, I had thought he didn't make it. He told me that by the time he had heard the first shell coming in, he had started sprinting to the front of the army troops and was actually the first one across. He went on to say that there were 5 that didn't make it across.





10 Sep 2010..
Foreign Work.

We were on another tour in some asshole of a country. I went on a foot patrol with Rachelle, the girl in out Troop. We crossed a river bed, then climbed the far bank and went one block into the community and then two blocks to the right. We stopped into a building to meet with a local commander... Oddly enough, there was a bowling alley in the building and after our business was done, we bowled against the troops that were there. We also drank a little too much, and told HQ that we would rather stay the night here in relative comfort than risk a cross front line nighttime journey. And then we switched off the radio. I assure you friends that this is not a realistic dream. Me and Rachelle continued bowling into the early hour and won lot's of pieces of paper with numbers on them that we had no clue to their worth.

We woke up in the morning and had to get out of the bowling alley as there was some sort of class scheduled for 08:00. We gathered up our bits of paper, noticing the young troops wide eyes on such a fortune (for them anyways) and headed out. We walked two blocks before I wondered where I was, thus asked Rachelle if she knew where we were. She immediately pointed to the right and said that is the hill we climbed down yesterday. Always keep a young mind with you I reminded my self. We walked up towards a construction site and walked around the left side of it to the riverbank. Rachelle said that she didn't think we could get down this way to the river. I got closer and ducked under the wall to take a look, and could see that it was pretty steep. I looked to my right and could see that there was a safer path down on that side of the building. Unfortunately, like many of my dreams, I couldn't find the strength to get up and woke up shortly in a bit of a sweat.

I promptly went back to sleep and we were on tour again. Unlike the previous one that resembled Bosnia, we were now in the middle east somewhere. I had my old crew with me: Darren, Matt and Levi.

We drove at night into a bombed out building and up to the 4th floor, yes I know it sounds strange but there was a ramp like thingy to get up there.
It was my Coyote and for some reason Charlie instead of Bravo. Rachelle is in Charlie, and it must have been reading on Facebook that she was at full term that also included her into this dream.

We parked on the 4th floor in the center of the building. Infront of us was an area that had been opened up by shell fire. There was a G-Wagon parked out there. I walked out to see what was up. It was the SSM and he was coordinating a show of firepower that another patrol was involved with a story below us. They were to fire some Co-Ax (MG) fire into an area where a meeting was taking place. They had to be carefull not to hit the ambassador of some country.

I turned to walk back to my Coyote when the patrol downstairs opened fire. Then I had to duck and run, as both the Co-Ax and Flex MGs started to fire from my Coyote. It soon stopped and I clambered aboard and asked Darren what that was all about. He responded with a sullen "Don't ask", and that was good enough for me.

Later that night, Charlie started up and moved forward into the position that the SSM had left from. Since I was on rad watch in my turret and had been monitoring the means, I was puzzled as to why he would do this. He moved farther forward than the SSM, and dismounted his observer. Suddenly the floor gave out and the Coyote fell. The observer was OK for a second and then he fell too. ( This may have come from watching Cloverfield last week and the scene where they move from one building to another).

Of course they all were killed. We went back to base camp and were very sad.

Soon we were sent out on another operation in the city. Everything was going well until a large force of insurgents attack from everywhere. We were soon separated from our fire team partner and involved in intense FIBUA ops. We tried to stay with our infantry guys, but when they got pushed back, we ended up on our own. For some reason I didn't have a map and the radio didn't work (Damn you TCCCS!)

We moved from streets into large buildings and back through doors and walls. We linked up with friendly forces and then got separated again. We engaged with co-ax anythone that was dressed in black. Luckily they didn't seem to have many AAWs with them.

After a heavy attack, we were forced out of a large building onto a busy street. We moved slowly down the street, as we didn't know where to go. I looked behind us and seen a youngster on a bike. Then I looked forward and seen a US SUV coming towards us. I watched him pass us and then watched the youngster on the bike throw a molotov cocktail at the suv, unfortunately for him, it bounced off and hit him. He went up into flames.

We carried on. Another biker came up to us, and deftly left his bicyle and latched on to the side of our Coyote. Apparently he was after the ammo box on my side of the turret. I stood up and commenced to hit him.. I reached for my pistol, but dropped it out of my holster. I then said to Darren "Shoot this bastard", and he calmly grabbed his C-8, placed the muzzle on the back of the neck, and fired one shot. The biker shook and convulsed twice, then fell off.

Later on we had another attack, also a biker. This time it was a child on a small bike. We were in slow traffic. I watch him come up to my side of the coyote and then pull out something from his handlebar bag. I calmly told Matt to change lanes to the right, and watched the kid go under our back wheels. I never told the crew about that.

We found ourselves in another large building, somewhat like an airplane hanger. We backed into a corner to get good arcs on the building. After a bit, we moved to the opposite side. Just then we heard something dropping from above. Luckily the grenade hit the engine grill and bounced off to explode harmlessly. We backed into our corner again and scanned the ceiling. The Coyote has very good elevation. We patiently waited out.
After about an hour Darren said to me "Aha". I looked through the site as he fired the co-ax. I was just in time to see a dark figure jerk and then fall through the beams and rafters to the floor below. The fallen figure looked small and insignificant on the floor.


After about a week of wandering around the city looking for a safe haven and engaging the enemy whenever we ran into them, we finally got to a US base. One of our wheels was n/s, but luckily they could fix it although it would take a couple of days. We also got in touch with a local that worked for the US in their supply system. Everything we asked for we got.

We had just laid out our sleeping kit in behind of our Coyote when a press vehicle pulled up. As we prepared to turn in, I noticed the Fox, CNN etc press badges. Of course they didn't pay us any attention. But one older bearded gentleman came over to talk to us. He was from a small Canadian news company and was interested in our story.

As I thought about our week, and mostly the child going under our wheels, I looked into the kind man's grey eyes and said we had nothing to say. We were on a routine patrol, and came here for repairs. He looked at me, and then at the state our Coyote was in, and then at the crew who already were asleep on the ground behind it, and nodded and turned away.



08 Aug 2010.

NOTE: This is a work of fiction that my brain came up with for no real reason. Characters are not based on anyone I know, especially my perfect parents.

Modern Family Values..

September - a small town in Canada/USA.

Jimmy Simpson is a typical 13 year old living with his parents and an older brother and a younger brother.

It is a Saturday and he has his friend Robert over. They do typical 13 year old stuff, mostly TV and video games. Robert suggests they take one of Jimmy's father's golf clubs out to the backyard and play with it. Jimmy is hesitant as his father has forbade the kids to touch his clubs. Robert finally talks him into it and they go out back with a 7-iron and a few balls. They practise chipping balls from one side of the yard to the other. Robert soons becomes bored of this and decides to see how far he can hit a ball into the park behind the yard. He is having trouble hitting the ball in the long grass of the lawn and sets one up on a cement patio stone. Just before Jimmy can say no, he takes a mighty swing. He hits well behind the ball and the club breaks into two pieces. Jimmy is horror-struck! Robert gets him to calm down and tells him to just hide the club and his father won't even notice, what with all those other clubs in his bag.

The go back in the house and downstairs to Jimmy's room. They hide the club under his bed. They start playing video games again. Jimmy has just slaughtered Robert in a game of basketball when he gets up to close his window as it has become very windy outside. As he looks out the window he sees a large bright green caterpillar on a branch of the apple tree in the back yard. It is about 6 inches long, thick and has small blue and red dots on its back. He thinks it may be the same one as he seen last Sep in the back yard. With an exclamation of "he's back"! he drags Robert out the front door. They have to fight the wind to get to the back yard. As they get to the apple tree, Robert finally has a chance to ask who's back? Jimmy explains all about the caterpillar. He can't see it and circles the tree. He sees a smaller yellow one and leans in to get a closer look. All of a sudden Robert's arm goes around his neck and pulls back sharply. Jimmy is shocked, then even more so when he sees Robert's other hand come towards his face with the big green caterpillar in it. Darn! He is going to squish the caterpillar into his face. Jimmy grabs this hand with his own right hand. He makes up his mind to take it easier on old Robert the next time they play video games. He starts to lose strength and Robert's hand with the caterpillar gets closer. Jimmy starts to panic slightly. He doesn't want the caterpillar to get hurt, especially by getting squished into his face. Along with that, Robert's arm is starting to close off the supply of blood to his brain. He decide's to do something drastic. He swings with his left hand in a backwards, underhand swing, aiming for Robert's tender parts. He strikes a glancing blow and they both fall down. Jimmy struggles to get in another swing when all of a sudden he sees a bright flash followed by darkness.

Much later his eyes pop open. It is just getting dark. He struggles to recall how he got into this condition. Slowly the details come back. He realized there is something in his mouth and spits out as much as he can. In front of his face is a pile of bright green bits and greenish paste. So much for the caterpillar. He also sees a bloody golf ball. So Robert had hit him in the head with a golf ball and then had stuffed the caterpillar into his mouth. He tries to move but it seems as if he is paralysed. The lay there feeling miserable about himself for a while. Then his attention turns to getting revenge against Robert. This gives him some strength. Then he notices it is not just before dark as it is getting brighter out. So he has lain there all night. This doesn't surprises him much, as his parents had already started to drink yesterday afternoon and had probably passed out last night. His older brother stayed over at a friend's place and his younger brother was too young to care.
Jimmy knew he must get up. He concentrates and finally begins to move his arms and legs. He slowly gets up to his hands and knees. Then shakily to his feet. This starts a renewed pounding in his head and his stomach lurches. He grabs ahold of the tree for balance just as he starts to vomit. He closes his eyes and waits for the end. Afterwards he opened his eyes and upon seeing more bright green bits on the ground starts anew. After the final dry heave has finished he slowly turns around and starts toward the back door. Like a newborn fawn, he slowly makes his way to the door. He enters and makes his way to the front door where the stairs are. Upon looking down his stomach begins to grind again and he had to hold onto the banister until that ended. Then he made his way down to the basement, into his room and then into his bed and under his blanket and soon was asleep again.

Jimmy's sleep was interrupted later by thunderclaps of roaring coming from his father. He wasn't sure what he was saying and hoped it would end soon. Then it came through loud and clear. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY 7-IRON!?! Jimmy's heart almost stopped. He hoped his father would come to the conclusion that he left it somewhere on the course during his last game. This thought was savagely concluded as his father burst through his door demanding if he knew where his precious club was. Jimmy stated that he didn't know. His father glared at him, but turned to leave. Just before he opened the door he turned around and came very close to Jimmy. Jimmy could smell his foul breath as he repeated the question. Again Jimmy said he didn't know where it was, this time in a timid voice. Keeping his eyes on Jimmy's, he bent down and reached under the bed. As he brought up the broken club he roared out about what a little liar he was and begun to beat him with the grip end of the broken club. Jimmy curled up in a ball and tried to explain it was an accident. His father either didn't hear or didn't care to hear. He stopped, dropped the club and left the room. Jimmy could hear his heavy steps on the stairway followed by the opening of the front door and subsequent slamming of it. Jimmy got as comfortable as his painful welts would allow and slowly, quietly cried himself to sleep.

He got up later when his mother came down to check on him. Shocked by his appearance she brought him into the bathroom to clean him up. She kept repeating over and over "My poor little Jimmy", which did nothing to ease his pain. Cleaned up, he managed to go to the kitchen and eat a little. Upon returning to his room his thoughts went again to his friend Robert. He had hit him on the head, stuffed a caterpillar down his throat and had broken his father's golf club. Jimmy vowed revenge as he fell back to sleep.

He was awoken later by the shouts of his father once again. He had obviously had his fill of bourbon after the golf game. He was arguing with Jimmy's mother, who by the sounds of her screeching had her fill of cheap boxed red wine. It became quiet and Jimmy hoped that his father had passed out and began to relax. Then his door opened and his father turned on the light. "Thought I forgot about you, did you little liar? Well here comes the rest of your punishment. Thus followed a much more personal yet painful type of cruel exploitation..

The following morning his father was already gone to work when his mother woke him up and once more cleaned him up. She again repeated the poor little Jimmy thing and told him he could stay home from school. Jimmy asked her why did she put up with his abuse to him? Then it dawned on Jimmy that she was being just as abused and probably terrified of him.
He didn't go to school on Tuesday either.

On Wednesday he went to school, deciding to even the score with Robert at the end of the day. He said nothing to Robert all day and waited for the final bell of the day. As the kids were headed to their buses, he came up to Robert from behind and called his name, drawing his fist back to punch him when he turned. Unfortunately it seemed Robert was anticipating something like this and deftly sprung to the left and Jimmy fist hit nothing but air. However Robert's fist hit him squarely on the nose, followed by a left which hit Jimmy's head on the same spot where the golf ball had hit. Jimmy dropped like a stone. Robert stood over him yelling obscenities and threatening to kick him in the face if he tried to get up. Apparently the friendship was over and done with. Jimmy stayed on the ground for a long while, refusing help from anyone that offered him a hand. When he finally got up, the buses were gone and he started the long trudge home.

When he finally got home he was surprised to see his older brother there. Being 18 he rarely was at home, spending most ofhis time with his friends. Jimmy took this opportuntunity to ask him about what he should do about his father's new form of abuse. His brother was very quiet and all he would say was to get prepared to leave the house as soon as he could. Jimmy became a little mad and demanded more of a solution. His brother remained quiet. Then it dawned on him why his older brother spent so little time here at the house. He quietly asked him if he was abused the same way. His brother said nothing and started to sob gently. He then got up and left the house. Jimmy knew that he could get no help from his mother or older brother. Then he thought of his little brother and what awaited him. His father did nothing to him that evening besides calling him a little pussy for getting beaten up by some queer. Wednesday and Thursday were also quiet for Jimmy. He had a bad feeling about Friday night though, as his father always went to a bar with his work buddies after work and came home in a dreadful mood.

Around 9 pm on Friday night Jimmy was watching TV in his room when his father came home. Soon the inevitable alcohol fueled arguement began upstairs. Jimmy became alarmed and left his room to hide elsewhere in the basement, hoping if his father didn't find him in his room he would forget him and return upstairs. Jimmy hid behind some boxes in a spare room. Soon he could hear his father calling for him and could hear his bedroom door being opening. With a renewed panic he heard him start to search for him around the basement. Soon he was found and his father dragged him back to his room. He went on about how much of a little pussy he was and that he knew what little pussies needed. He reached down in the hallway and picked up a shopping bag. He grabbed the contents and threw them at Jimmy. He looked down and could see a small skirt and a small girl's blouse. Jimmy made a break for the door but his father caught him and threw him to the floor beside his bed. As his father reached down to stand him on his feet again, Jimmy's right hand closed on something under his bed. It was part of the broken golf club. As his father drunkenly leaned over, Jimmy swung the club end of the club towards his face. His father keeled over and then began to get up again. Jimmy side stepped him and raced from the room. He just got the front door open when his father grabbed him from behind. Jimmy saw bright flashes and thought his father was hitting his head with the broken golf club. Then someone tore him from his father's grip and held him close to them and away from the doorway. With his face pushed into this unknown saviour, he could hear his father swearing and struggling by the door. He slowly turned his head to see two large policemen holding his father down and cuffing him. The flashing lights he seen were not caused by head injuries, but were the flashing lights of police cars. He turned upward to identify his saviour and looked into his older brother's eyes. Their mother was the next one cuffed and thrown into the back seat of a policecar. They sat down on the grass and cried together for a long time.

A lady police officer came to them and explained that they were safe now. She told them that their younger brother was still asleep in his bed. She also stated that Shane, being 18, could stay with them on his own. She also added that a child care person was on her way over to give them any assistance they needed. She also said that they needed statements and the best time to do that was now.






17 July 2010

Having fun...

Having just escaped from the Polizie in a previous dream, I find my self in PEI, walking around a large building with a friend. It is pretty quiet and normal mall type of place. But down a small corridor we find a small door to a place called something like "Adults Fun and Adventure Place". We decide to go in and check it out. We are paying the entrance fee, when one of my cousins comes up to us. He is working there, and is with the big boss. He explains to the big boss who we are and that we should get the all-inclusive American deal. She agrees and soon we are fitted out with bracelets and plastic tokens worth much more than what we paid for. My cousin gives us a quick tour of the place, mostly bars/pubs and gaming type places. Then he shows us the best area of the place, the real adult’s area. He gives us a quick tour explaining how everything works. He leaves us, and we almost immediately forget most of what he said. It is early so we decide to go to one of the pubs and drink beer for a while.

It is a rule that you can't wear T-shirts in this area, but the big boss said I was OK. I was wearing one of our red RCD T-shirts. We proceed to drink beer for a couple of hours, talking to the folks around us. The place is getting crowded. We soon meet a lot of the folks from our Squadron; apparently most of the Sqn is in the place. Shawn Mercer comes up to us and talks a while.

We leave the pub and show Shawn around the place. We get to one spot and Shawn looks at his watch and tells us he has to meet someone at the entrance soon. He turns to walk away and one of the big bouncer/Security types sees that Shawn is wearing a Gerber multi-tool on his belt. The bouncer immediately starts shouting "Gerber, Gerber" at the top of his lungs, bringing more bouncers running. Apparently any type of knife/weapon is also forbidden. Shawn thinks he hears "Mercer, Mercer" and turns around to see several large bouncers coming towards him. He immediately turns and starts to run away.

We continue walking around, and several times we see Shawn still running away from bouncers. We stop at a bar for some more beers. Suddenly we notice Shawn is at the end of the bar quietly drinking a beer. He has changed clothes from jeans and long-sleeved button up shirt to tight shorts, long knee high socks, and a golf shirt. He has also somehow has been able to trim his previous lengthy hair to a short and tight. He is wearing glasses which complete his disguise. We decide to not to draw attention to him and leave.

I decide to try out the adult area, and my friend moves on to some other place. I pay one plastic token to just get into the place. I'm looking for a certain area that my cousin showed me, but can't find it. So I decide to go for the deluxe plan. I lie down on a slow moving treadmill type thing and soon leave the room through some curtains. I come to a spot where I must choose a path; from good, or better, or best. I move my self onto the best treadmill. I soon stop in an area staffed with sexy girls, and get placed on a large flat thing that is filled with fruits. I snack and ask the girl if I have to pay more. She says not yet, but later. Curiously I heard dogs barking in the background. I proceed through another curtain and enter another area, staffed by men. One asks me for the token given to me when I paid the girl at the previous room. I said I didn't get one there, she said that I would pay here. He gives a pained look, and pulls on a lever. So like switching tracks on a train, I start back on another track and soon find my way to the exit.

It takes me quite a long time to find the entrance, and when I do I have my dog, Jan, with me on a leash. As I enter this time, I notice an area where you can drop off your dog, and a large cage with several smaller dogs. I drop Jan off there, free of charge. I jump on the treadmill once again. This time on a large fur type of rug covering the sheet pan.

I get to the first room and a new girl says of course I have to pay there, and I give her a plastic token, receiving a larger one in return. I move slowly away, this time there are several girls along the way that undress me as I go. Just before I leave the room, a girl touches my lower back and then pulls her hand down onto my bum and takes the jeans and underwear off of me. I lay there naked, kind of self conscious, more or less stimulated, and give the token to a dude, and then proceed to another room.

This one has several naked chicks in it, and I'm to choose one to accompany me on the large cookie sheet. I choose a short blond with blue eyes and an athletic body. She snuggles up to me on the fur, bringing with her a bottle of bubbly, and away we went. We pass slowly through many rooms involving sex in just about every way imaginable (I'll not go into greater detail). We even pass along side a huge room, where naked girls are playing football nude! Needless to say we finally enter a small dimly lit room, and I have sexual relations with the chick.

Afterwards we carry on down there treadmill slowly towards the finish. We enter a large room and she tells me I could stay there for an hour along side other dudes watching live sex shows or just go with her to the exit. The thought of laying next to dudes kind of repulsed me and anyways by this time I was madly in love with the young girl and just wanted to spend more time with her. Again I hear dogs barking, with big Jan's bark drowning out the others. We head towards the exit. She gives me her name and shift schedule in case I want to come back to see her. Of course I do, and the idea of immediately coming back is considered.

We get to the exit and she gives me a hug and a long slow kiss (did I mention I loved this chick?). We say our goodbyes. My clothes have been freshly laundered and are folded neatly on a counter. There is also another dog cage here, but I don't see Jan. As I'm just finishing getting dressed, a door inside the cage bursts open and Jan comes into the cage dragging a fairly large biker type along with her. I pick her up and the biker dude gives me a look that I can't mistake as a "bring that dog back and I'll kill you with a spoon" look. I take her leash from him and leave.

By this time I feel sober enough to drive home, and since I was spent, I decided to go. Just before I leave the building, I hear an announcement advising customers to leave through the rear entrance as the main entrance as the front is not accessible (this meant the exit from the parking lot, not the building). As I go to my truck, I notice it is daylight and that the building seems to be in the middle of nowhere. I look toward the main entrance and see the road leading to it has been blocked by several dump trucks, and the sides are blocked by large bulldozers. The exit is a road that goes through a tree line, so there is no way to get out that way. I think that the PEI locals are fed up with this kind of entertainment and are protesting. I jump in the truck and head towards the rear exit.

Cars are exiting at a normal speed. Then all of a sudden there is a great commotion on the exit road. Armoured vehicles and troops have set up a roadblock. For some reason I panic and turn around and quickly turn around and return to the building. In the end there is only the male staff and all us from the Sqn left in the building. The dream didn't reveal to me why we all stayed, but apparently we did not want to captured by the police. Normal customers were detained, screened and mostly let on their way. The wolf dog Jan had been met and had decided that she was better off meeting me at the truck and driving me home. So she waited in the back of my truck.

Weapons were broke out and passed around. The weapons were of good quality and a good supply of ammo was available. Surprisingly, Shawn was not approached by the bouncers for his activity the night before. The Sqn quickly formed up into Troops and an HQ. The Admin troops were absorbed into the fighting Troops. The leader of the staff asked us for advice, but he remained in charge. I decided that this was an organized crime run place and that the police had probably been after them for a while, and somehow got enforced by the Army. But as I thought back, the Army Troops I seen weren't Canadian, they were US.

We learned that the building was built with this type of scenario in mind. The walls were thick, and small windows provided fields of fire in front of every exit. With our help, sentries were posted and breakfast was organized. The staff seemed to trust us, but only just barely. They weren't wrong, by this time we had come to the conclusion that joining them was the wrong option, and secretly we planned against them.

It wasn't long before the first attacks came. It seemed to be comprised of SWAT teams and army troops. These are turned back pretty easily by us. Then a phone call and negotiations started. The police wanted to speak to someone face to face, and a deal was arranged. One side of the building backed onto a treelines and we had some vehicles there at our disposal. A team of a higher ranking staff and one of our WOs, along with bodyguards moved off towards the checkpoint at the back entrance. The WO's plan was to somehow get handed over to police, and then for him to explain our involvement, and to brief them on the layout of defenses and our plan to rebel against the staff. Riding with him was one of our oldest Cpls and a young female Trooper.

They flew a white flag and got halfway to the checkpoint and stopped. Shortly a vehicle came from the checkpoint, also with a white flag and moved out to meet them. Everything was going to the plan. But as they exited the vehicle, a MG emerged from the sunroof of the vehicle and started to engage them, with the others also shooting towards them. Our party didn't have a chance. Soon the vehicle was in flames, with everybody inside it. No one got out. Our troops needed little support to join in with us. One of their best friends was killed, and the cuteness of the Sqn along with him. The WO was admired for his friendly, no nonsense style of leadership.

This was all witnessed by our leaders and a large number of the staff and the Sqn. Our OC and Shawn were disgusted by this. We all felt that if they would murder our negotiation party waving the white flag, that there was no way out of the building alive. Soon the whole Sqn had decided to not to rebel and to join the staff and see this thing out to the finish.

The police/Army had given up on the direct dismounted attack, and soon were engaged by heavy MG and mortars. This had little effect on the building and few casualties. Soon it was nighttime and we decided to go on the offence. A patrol disappeared into the wood line and snuck there way toward the checkpoint. They took out one sentry and soon were within range of the checkpoint. The area of the checkpoint was well lit up, and several police and Army troops were lounging about. The patrol opened up on them for about two minutes of heavy gunfire, and then slithered their way back towards the building. During the attack, our Troops were out in the woods setting up whatever defensive works they could find. Mostly moving deadfall into a cordon, and the use of strings with cans with small rocks in them, it was a crude but effective way to help defend that entrance. Some wire was on hand and used and several bent tree type of traps set.
Later on in the night, another patrol was sent out to do the same thing to the checkpoint along the main entrance. We also sent out 2 small OP teams to get in place as a little early warning (we has some small civilian radios to use).

When the patrols returned there was little celebration, with the civilian staff in awe of what we could do. Our troops looked relieved to be back, but the grim outlook hung heavily in their heads.

The rest of the night and morning was relatively quiet. Most of us caught up on some rest. Around noon the OP team covering the rear entrance radioed in that some artillery had been put into position there. We had a detailed plan for them to switch frequencies for every sitrep, in a hope that we could at least hide some messages from the police/Army. It didn't take long for the artillery to start engaging the building. Although the damage was severe, the building stood its ground and few casualties resulted. The rest of the day and evening was relatively quiet.

That evening we sent out a snatch patrol to grab one of their sentries for any int that we could get out of him. Our Troops again performed professionally, and soon returned with a terrified young US army PFC.
It didn't take much interrogation (no torture or water boarding involved, just our combat Int guys doing their thing) to get out of him some valuable info. He told us that there were two battalions of infantry out there, reinforced with SWAT teams and their weapons systems. He was from 10 Mountain Division from Fort Drum in upstate NY. From that we came to the conclusion that they hadn't been equipped with many heavy weapon systems. But we also got some info that a battalion of Marines was on their way, with all their weapons systems to bear. This would bring armoured vehicles, including M-1 tanks, more artillery, maybe MLRS, and attack jets and choppers off some carrier probably stationed south, off the NS coastline. The outlook was grim indeed.

The Sqn leadership met together by themselves without the staff. We agreed that the staff probably were going to fight it out to the end, as the possibility of surrender seemed to be out of the question. For us, the possibility of capture was also slim to none. We knew we would be roughly treated, but our lower troops may be treated differently. We agreed that that slim to no chance of being taken prisoner is still more of a chance then certain death at the hands of the police/Army. We came to a plan where Shawn would take the prisoner with him later that night and approach the police/Army position along the main entrance. From there he would use the prisoner to get captured safely, and hopefully work out a deal with them. It was a plan with little chance of succeeding, but we knew it was worth the risk to save some of our Troops. Whether that worked or not, we would sneak most of our troops into the wood line before dawn to hide out until the end came. Our leadership would take over most of the sentry duties in that time.

Shawn moved out later and moved towards their CP. It was hoped that the absence of the prisoner would go unnoticed by the staff, as they had left him in charge of us. Our OP team seen them getting towards the CP and no gunshots were heard.

Dawn came with a beautiful sunrise. The birds were singing. But shortly after we could hear the heavy rumble of 65 ton M-1 tanks moving into position. Then a large artillery barrage hit us. This was re-enforced by the tanks, which are much more accurate than the artillery. Casualties started to mount. Just as the gunfire died down, Harrier and F-18s from the unseen carrier far off the Nova Scotia coast attacked. Their smart bombs resulted in great destruction to the building. I noticed that none of their fire was directed to the tree line and our hiding troops, which meant that they may have listened to Shawn, or simply didn't believe him and choose not to waste ammo on that area.

In the end the building was mostly demolished, burying staff and us together. I was manning our ad hoc headquarters in the middle of the building. With me were one Sgt and a Lt and the BC. We did a quick head count and discovered only about 8 staff and 5 Sqn members were untouched by the massive bombardment. I organized sentries so that the staffs were covering the rear entrance, while we manned the main entrance. We knew that things were going to be dicey for us in the future.

Shortly our OP reported a vehicle left the CP at the front entrance. Our OPs and us had by now switched to a different frequency so the remaining staff couldn't hear us. To our relief they were flying a white flag, and a smaller RCD flag below that. We let the vehicle approach us and stop about 50 metres away. Curiously it was one of our G-wagons and not a Hummer. A door opened and Shawn hopped out. We were hopeful, but I reminded the rest to not let their guard down. The other door opened and Rick Hillier came out. At the sight of Gen Rick Hillier we knew that it was not a trap. We quickly dropped our weapons and headed out to the vehicle with our arms in the air. We were soon joined by several LAV-25s and APC's. They deployed and entered the building. We were searched by some Marines and put into a large truck under guard. Shawn joined us then and explained that our troops had been met by Marines in the forest and was safe. On the way back to the front entrance we were met by a patrol of Marines with our OP party with them. They joined us in the truck, and Shawn asked them about our other OP. A marine the size of Carl Cox said that troops of 10 Mountain had took them prisoners with out harm.

As we proceeded on we could hear gunfire from the building, the only conclusion that could come to mind was that the Marines had very little intention of capturing the staff alive.

We were put into a large PW cage to start with. Shawn and the BC had already been separated as they had been identified as leadership. I knew it was only a matter of time before they would identify me and the rest of the leadership. We moved about the cage trying to lift our troop’s spirits. We talked with every one of them, and then the Lt, me, 3 Sgts and 5 MCpls identified ourselves to the guards and were led away.

When we got together with Shawn, we concluded that out of the 55 or so members of the Sqn that were in the "Adults Fun and Adventure Place" that night, we had lost 10 dead and 17 wounded. We agreed that Shawn had done exceptionally well in convincing the police/Army that we wanted to give up the fight. We were solid in our defense that after the death of our white flagged negotiation party had us decide that the only defense was a solid offence and that we pushed that onto our subordinates and convinced the Troops to fight with the Staff.

We soon got separated and placed into civilian police prisons. As I sat in a cell knowing my fate, I cursed and then thanked the decision to take capital punishment away from Canada. I knew that the USA wanted to extricate us to America for our involvement in the deaths of several of their troops, but Prime Minister Cherry would have none of it.

As I waited in my cell in solitary confinement for over a year, one guard finally told me that the majority of the Troops from the Sqn had got small sentences and Army discharges in their trails. The few exceptions were those that had readily admitted that they had been involved in the nighttime attacks on both check points. He also told me that the MCpls involved had received 5 years and the Sgt's and Lt's had received 12 years.

Facing the prospect of at least 15 or more probably 20-25 years in jail, I reflected on the whole affair. Did I have any regrets? I certainly regretted that the whole thing happened. But our decision to pitch in with the organized criminal staff against the police/Army? No, the way they murdered our white flagged negotiation party made it to clear to us that to fight was the only way. And enough of our Troopers had witnessed it that the whole Sqn was in agreement!

The decision settles amongst me like a warm furry rug on a cookie sheet. My friends and family have left me to my fate. I realize that I've done wrong, bringing my brethren to fight for the Organized Crime part of little town PEI.

I will get singled out as a resident of PEI, and one of the leaders of the rebellion against smut and porn in PEI...
The end is close and we will have to bring certain arguments involved.
But I digress...


The only question was why we had all turned back from the checkpoints to join the organized staff in the building? Unfortunately my dream never revealed this to me. It did however give me that warm and fuzzy feeling that it was the only option.

Certain Afghans were involved. That was granted as pretty much as true.

I sat in my cell. Solitary I had no problem with it. I knew that the Battle Captain and I were up for trial next. I hadn't seen him since the capture but Steve Popowych was a solid guy. The OC and Sqn 2 i/c had been killed in their sentry locations during the attacks.

After the court had stripped off our flesh to the bone, Shawn would be the last up for trial. I knew that Steve would try to get as much blame transferred to him, and I'm pretty sure he knew I would also. We both admired that Shawn had set off with the prisoner on that mission. He had such limited chance of success but still he went.

That was in the future though. As I sit in solitary. I wondered where Jan, and Sam and of course Dave are. I hope my parents have taken in the cats in and my brother Andy has adopted Jan.

And I thought of who was this friend of mine who had accompanied my into the "Adults Fun and Adventure Place". Of course it was Ben Aubin, and he had left much earlier than me and not been involved with the outcome. There were public telephones at the exit, and he had probably phoned Colleen to say he was in the Barracks and going to sleep. He ended up by being at home with his wife and kids enjoying the good life, although a tad saddened by what happened to his old Sqn.

I spent several more months in solitary waiting for the trial. I was to be up before Steve, seemingly backwards in military discipline that a WO would be ahead of a Capt, but this was civilian court and thought the oldest should go first. I came to trail with a definite defensive plan: tell the truth, the whole truth and only the truth. After all that is what the court asked me. And this was easy, because the truth didn't have to memorize like a story and hopefully said again and again.

My testimonials were that Steve had not much to do with our decisions, and that the OC and I made awful decisions. And this is true, so it made it easy to admit. I emphasized that I was a leading member of the decision to fight to the end, after our white flagged party got murdered.
I concluded with my feelings that Shawn had done everything possible to care for the welfare of his Sqn during this crisis. I also said I was the forced to retaliate for the loss of Danny Hoyt. Danny was our SQ and was especially a favorite with the young troopers, and had recently taken several Troopers under his wing.

The trail was not stressful, because I just repeated the truth over and over. I only wanted to stress that I had a large part of making our troops decide to fight. And that the OC and I decided to send someone with the prisoner to get in contact with the CPs.

The trail ended. I am going to spend the next 30 ears in prison. My great friend Steve will only spend 15 years. I could not argue enough to get him him less involved with the leadership decisions. Shawn has received a 30 year term also.

Of course this is only a dream, but to the death I will defend it...






08 July 2010

Konzentration Lager.

I find myself in a K-Camp shortly after WW2. I'm not a German or an ex-prisoner or some Jewish investigator, just a visitor.
With a guide we tour the facilities. He shows us the various facilities and living quarters. One thing he shows us is a great big wooden pole attached to two building with a hangman's noose on it. Apparently this is where unruly prisoners were hanged. We also seen sorting rooms, where fellow countrymen would go through the belongings of other countrymen who were put to death. There were a great deal of objects on display, from gold teeth to eyeglasses to hair to objects too numerous to mention.

I took it all in, and then went to a nearby Gasthaus for a meal and a sleep.

My sleep came fitfully. Dreams brought me back to the KZ during the heighth of its operation. I seen the thug camp guards in action. I seen folks strung up on the big wooden pole. I seen the rooms where the new arrivals laid their meager belongings and took off their clothes for the promised shower. Then I was in a long corridor while they moved past me into the shower rooms, all the while being guided along by fellow countrymen.
The sadness was too great to bear, and I opened a side door to escape it. I ended up in a little room where there were folks who were prying gold teeth from cadavers. I wondered to myself how long after gassing was it safe to work on the bodies?
I had to get out and passed through another door and ended up in the Camp Commandants office. There was the guy in charge of this ruthlessness! He was sipping on some brandy and listening to an old fashioned record player. He was listening to Mozart and there was a second empty bottle on the table beside him. A photo on his desk showed him with a woman and 3 little blond kids.
I was having a hard time to fathom this and exited the room by the first door I found.
I ended up on the ground between the two building with the long wooden pole between them. I had the noose around my neck and the guys who were on each side of me were wearing Canadian Dress uniforms with RCD insignas. I accepted my fate, and was soon hauled upward by the two RCDs. My last thought was at least my comrades had done it to me.

And I thought why don't they prosecute fellow countrymen who went along with the madness?






03 July 2010

Russian Spirits.

Well back in the Army again, this time in Germany. We are on exercise, but this time we have some Russian Troops attached to us on a Sue; Small Unit Exchange. At the end of the exercise we have a BBQ, or smoker, and much alcohol is drank by everyone. I go to sleep after taking my nightly meds.
We get woken up early to go to the airfield for the flight back. I'm still affected by the meds, and appear drunken.
I get into a disagreement with someone, but am soon led off by some of the Russians to a waiting Iltis.
We get to the airfield and file onto the Airbus. For some reason it is winter and snow is all about. I'm one of the last to board, and one of the only seats left is in between two Russians. One is a good guy, and the other is an attractive blond girl who is also a strong soldier.
I'm still very tired and soon fall asleep on the shoulder of the girl. As we wait for takeoff, I alternate between the shoulders of the guy, but mostly stay on the shoulder of the girl.
We get the go ahead to take off, and we launch down the runway. Unfortunately there is too much ice on the runway, and we must abort the takeoff at the last minute. We wait at the end of the runway for the crews to take care off the runway. I'm still very tired and spend most of the time asleep on the shoulder of the Russian girl.
If I was awake, maybe I could have noticed the higher ranks looks and comments made about me being a drunk and shmoozing with the Russian girl. Sure she is cute, but she also impressed me with her job performance during the exercise.
We finally take off and get to Lahr shortly. I barely notice the bad looks that everyone is giving to me. I get a drive to my barracks and sleep the rest of the night off.
I get awoken at around 0800 by a MP, who came to place me under arrest for alcohol abuse and having relations with a lower rank.
I ask him to let me get dressed and grab my shaving kit. After I get dressed I go to the bathroom for my shaving kit. The MP askes what is taking so long? I don't answer, and he comes to investigate. As soon as he gets in the doorway I lay him out with the shower curtain rod.
I get together my AWOL bag (it was almost certainly only a matter of time before I would put it to good use) and head for the parking lot.
I jump into my '88 scirocco and head for the front gate. I get there before the MP comes to and can warn them, so I leave the base with no problems. I head for the Autobahn and head north before making an illegal U-turn and head south.
I have a buddy in Freiburg who might be able to help me out.
I get to his apartement building and park in the underground garage and head up the elevator.
I get to his door and he lets me in. Unfortunately he is going through a breakdown and has his rifle out and is getting ready to head to the roof and start engaging targets of opportunity. Well I ask him if I can use his car, as I suspect he won't need it any longer. He tells me he has sold his car to buy more ammo. He goes to the WC, and I grab his rifle. A quick strike to the firing pin by my SOG renders it useless. When he comes back into the room I ask him to just have fun on the roof and not shoot anybody. Just to make a statement. He somewhat agrees and I leave him.
I take the elevator down to the parking garage and wait for a car to come in.
Soon the type of car I'm looking for comes in, an older model Opel with an elderly man driving it. As he comes toward me, I stop him and politely ask him to get out. He hesitates and then gets out. I thrust some geld into his hand and jump in and head to the exit.
As I get out of the garage I wonder what to do. My last true friend has probably got to the roof and discover his rifle won't fire.
Where could I go? Of course Switzerland was very close, but that country has ceased to be a haven for criminals a long time ago. Austria? Sure isolated mountain villages, but still to open.
Then I remembered that the Russian girl had told me about her small village and about her widowed Mom and about her younger brothers and sisters.
I plot a course through Austria to Hungary to Ukraine into Russia.. to the small town of Zaellihskoye, north of Volgograd (Stalingrad).
I strike out east for the Austrian border. I have enough money in my AWOL bag to bribe any border cop, and enough Krugerands sewed into the bottom for a good long time in small town Russia.
I look forward to a Vodka exsistence with a young widow.






26 Jun 2010

BEL - Same shit.

We left the holding area as part of a combat team, which was going to attack an enemy position. It included our 2 tank Troops plus the BC and a Company of Infantry. Ours was a diversionary attack for a Battle Group advance further south.
We got in position and waited for the Artillery to do their thing. At H-Hour we crossed the LD and advanced across an open area towards the enemy position. Everything was going well until about halfway there, when we were engaged from our right flank by hidden tanks and missiles, then by fast air and choppers. Artillery began to land amongst as well.
We were buttoned down, and I concentrated on getting to the enemy position. A few glances out the periscopes revealed many of our vehicle disabled. We were firing Hesh and co-ax to keep the enemy heads down in the trenches to our front.
We reached out position and burst through the wire and over the trenches. We carried on to our re-org position, a small crest about 800m beyond the enemy position facing north east. We settled in to a turret down position and I assigned arcs to my gunner. My loader bombed up the 13 round rack.
I then took this opportunity to look around. Through my periscopes I could see no sign of the rest of the Troop. I looked to the south to see if I could see any of the other Troop, and could see nothing. I opened my hatch to get a better look. Still nothing. There were still lots of gunfire sounds coming from the direction of the enemy position. Finally I seen some tanks cresting the hill by the enemy position. I began to relax, but that was short lived as I could see they weren't Leopard C1s. They were T-72 tanks. It was obviously the hidden tanks, who had counter attacked through the remnants of our combat team and then moved to position by their trenches.
Now my threat was behind me, so I quickly moved the tank over the small crest and took up a position facing the opposite way. But we didn't go undetected, as we were fired on shortly. I jockeyed away from that position to another one and started to engage the tanks. We had to engage rapidly and then jockey to avoid get hit as we were so outnumbered. We did hit several tanks though. We were fighting a losing battle though, and when I observed 3 tanks making their way into a flanking position I retired from the crest.
Unfortunately we had to head further behind enemy lines. We headed for a wooded area and entered it on a black track. The map showed that the large wooded area had several black tracks running though it. We took several turns before I found what I was looking for, a small unused track heading into the woods. The tracks we were on were all well rutted from tanks, but this one had little wear. We carefully backed down into and into the middle of a thicket of small pines about 100m from the entrance. We switched off and after a short listening pause, went into action.
My crew were well trained and needed little direction. My driver sprung from his hole and immediately went to the entrance of the tail to camouflage our tracks. Me and the gunner put up an overhead cam net while the loader monitored the radio. It was getting late in the day and darkness would soon fall. The gunner started digging a trench and the driver came back to check his tank tracks.
My mind raced on what to do next. I was behind enemy lines and the loader had not been able to contact anyone on the radio. I walked out to check the driver's cam job, and it was detailed as I had come to expect from him.
I just gotten back to the tank, when the first enemy vehicles came down the main black track. We waited anxiously, but we were well hidden behind the pine thicket. My mind was telling me to get back to our lines asap, but something else was telling me to wait out here for a while. We had 6 sabot, 4hesh, 3 smoke, and about 5 boxes of co-ax left. And our diesel was down to a half tankish.A quick read of the map indicated that although we were well hidden here, our little track ended in a severe hill and a river ,so we only had one way out. I brieded my crew on the situation, where we were, and the plan if we got attacked and/separated.
Unbeknownst by me, not only had the enemy stopped our attack, but had counter attacked and pushed our forces back to the west a considerable distance.
Back to the thicket. We spent the night in our hide sitting in our positions in case we had to make a quick exit. We had a supper of IMP heated up in our boiling vessel. Several convoys of vehicles travelled down the main track in both directions. When they passed, we were at full attention for a quick break away.
In between we had quick uncomfortable naps while one guy stayed awake.
Just before dawn a large number of armoured vehicles and tanks moved in front of us, then parked and switched off about 300m west of us. By the time they had settled down it was daylight. We spent the rest of the day nervously waiting for the worst, but we made it through undetected.
That night after midnight a group of tanks moved in and parked opposite us off the main track. We were on high alert, and when another group of tanks moved in front of us we decided to make a break for it. We would use darkness and deceit to move out and back to our lines. Using their noise to cover up us starting up, we edged to the end of our trail. I looked to the west and unfortunately there were a couple of self propelled artillery parked on the track. We reluctantly turned left/east and headed further away from our lines. We passed by several enemy on the way out of the woods, but each gave us little notice. We we left the woods behind we travelled through on the road with farms fields and hedgerows on each side. I knew there was a town in front of us, but I was not sure what to do next. We entered the outskirts of the town, and before we knew it came upon a sentry position. One of the sentries was standing in the middle of the street. Seeing as we had already been seen, I decided to push our luck and drive through like we owned the place. This was a saying and attitude my father taught me. The sentry quickly stepped aside and let us pass. We soon came upon more enemy and made many quick turns to bypass them. When I concluded that probably all of the exits to the town where occupied by the enemy, and further driving around would probably only attract unwanted attention, I started to look up a hiding spot. On the edge of town I found a factory type business with many trucks and machinery parked around it. I went to the back corner and found a good spot. We could back in between two big trucks and then squeeze behind a bulldozer along the fence. There were only trees behind the fence, so we were covered from all sides. We laid the tarp over us to be camouflaged from the air. There was little maintenance required so we settled into our hide routine.
I again pondered our situation. We were farther from our lines now, and it seemed we had more enemy troops between us and our lines. We only had about a third of our fuel supply left, but had several days worth of rations.I wondered if we could hold out until our forces attacked in this sector again and then rejoin them.
The day passed by uneventfully and darkness soon fell. However the night also brought company. Around midnight our gunner woke us up upon hearing many armoured vehicle noises approaching us. From our position behind the bull dozer we could not see the main road, so I dismounted and took a quick peak. Soon I could see at least companies worth of BMPs approaching. Worse they seemed to be turning into the factory. I observed the far back corner and when I seen one coming around it I knew we were in for some discomfort. I went back to the tank and briefed the crew; we were to stay put but be ready to fight our way out.
The BMPs spread out and began switching off. None of them parked near us. As the engine noise eventually dwindled to silence, soon other sounds were heard. The echos of track maintenance being done and even music started up. Apparently they felt pretty secure here. Over the noise we packed away our tarp, as it was of no real value by then. Eventually the noise mellowed down, and all we could hear was the footsteps of a roving sentry.
Unfortunately later on we got more company. Heavy tracked vehicle noises approached us. The noise grew louder until we could hear them also turning into the factory. They also spread out and began switching off. Luckily no one parked in front of again. This time they settled down pretty quickly and relative silence reigned once again.
Shortly after that our loader was going through his frequencies on the radio trying to hear someone. Suddenly a voice came through our headphones. I asked him what freq this was, and he told us it was Brigade. We only got the last bit of the broadcast so we didn't hear the callsign. We waited for another broadcast. After 10 minutes were heard callsign 43A calling in a sitrep. We couldn't hear the other end of the conversation. But 43A was Brigade Recce; a 2 Lynk patrol and commanded by a friend of mine. When he was finished I called him up. He was surprised to hear our callsign on Brigade net, and authenticated us. "Fucking suspicious by-the-book bastard" I thought to myself, the next round will be on him for that. After I authenticated his challenge I told him where we were and out situation. He was in an OP screen in the area. I also got him to relay a fire mission on the factory area as it was a nice target for Arty. I told him to stand by for my call on the fire mission. I would either call it after getting out of their, or on immanent capture/death. Heck; we all like to go down swinging, yes?
About an hour later we heard more tanks approaching us, and then turn into the factory. I figured out luck was running out fast and decided on an action plan. I told the crew we would start up and circle around the factory while the enemy tanks were still moving, then leave the factory and be on our way. Which we did, until we got to the exit and found it parked by couple of tanks. We drove by slowly and headed out back again. Then I could here shouting coming from the gate and turned to see the tank turrets turning our way. We zipped around the corner. I quickly calculated that are only way out was through the back fence. I quickly radiod 43A and told him to fire on the fire mission but I would not be able to give corrections.
We turned and accelerated through the fence and through the trees. The last glimpse I had of the factory revealed that enemy tanks were also through the fence and in pursuit. We raced through fields and hedgerows and fences in a desperate attemp to get free. I soon became dis-orientated and was not sure at all where we were. We took another corner and then took a quick listening halt. With our engine switched off, we could hear numerous tanks approaching us. We started up and plowed through a cornfield. As we broke free of the corn we came upon a tree line with a small track entering it. Having not much other choices we drove down it. We got about a km down it and had another listening halt.
We could hear tank noises, but it didn't appear they were heading down out little track. I took this opportunity to look at the map and try to figure out where we were. From the position of the factory and the little hill we had gone over on the map, I figured out where we were. That was the good news. The bad news was we were in another tree line that backed up onto the steep hill with the river at the bottom. And there were no other trails on the map coming from this one.
While I tried to decide on a plan, it got decided for me. There were definite tank noises heading up our trail towards us. I decided a little shooting and delay were in order. I put the gun over the back deck and then backed into a position behind a little mound. We had sabot loaded and waited for them to get in view. There was a corner about 300 metres from us that the enemy tanks would have to come around. I told the gunner to take the third tank in line, and then the first two. And then we would slam in a WP round.I handed the shoot over to the gunner and loader and waited. By now there was enough light to use our primary sight, so we switched of the night camera.
We kept the tank running as we very rarely switched off while actually engaging the enemy.
The first tank came around the corner quickly, closely followed by the next two. The gunner opened up fire and quickly destroyed the 3 tanks. It was all battle range and quick line switches. He then fired WP at the lead tank to add to the confusion, and I told the driver to step on it.
We have about 4 kms to go to the river and I decide to delay them at least once, but probably twice before we get there. We speed off down the trail until we find a suitable ambush spot. We back into it again to make for a speedy escape. We remain in a turret down. I tell the gunner we will do the same thing again.
The first tank comes into view, this time going much slower than the first guy. He stops and I can see the turret moving to scan the area ahead. Another tank passes him and then pulls off to the side and starts scanning. I tell my gunner we will have to change the plan a little, and there will only be two tanks to engage. I tell my loader to be ready for a WP round as before. I lined the gun up on the right hand tank and told the driver to reverse. As soon as the gunner identified the target he fired, and the driver stopped. A quick line switch had the other tank in flames and then gunner then added the white phosphorous round into the middle. I told the driver to go and we quickly sped off.
We drove on until we came very near the steep hill with the river below it. I found a good spot to attack them again. We backed up into a turret down, and then into a hull down to test to see if we could engage. On this position it wouldn't work as the gunner couldn't depress the gun enough to engage on the slight downhill slope we were to engage upon. We quickly turned around and adopted a conventional turret down. I told the crew we would do the same kind of engagement as before, but with only one sabot round left would have to use Hesh for the rest.
With only my well cammed eyeballs visible, I scanned the trail. I figured they would be even more careful know after the last two ambushes. I felt a false sense of self-importance realizing the were going to this much effort for our one little old panzer.
Their increased wariness was displayed by the lone infantryman that soon came into view. Apparently the infantry had caught up to the fight, and there commander was employing them in a hope to not lose any more T-72 tanks.The infanteer stopped and scanned ahead, but he didn't have binos. A couple more soon appeared, one with a RPG. As I swept my binos back to the first guy, I seen he had been joined along side by another. The new guy was bringing his rifle to his shoulder and at the last minute I could see the scope on it. Damn! A sniper! I quickly dropped my head below the crest. Infanteers with the naked eye was one thing, a trained sniper was another. But if we moved forward to engage now there were only 4 guys to engage.
I quickly dismounted to observe them from a safer location. On my belly amongst the low bushes I was a much harder target to view. I brought up my binos in time to see the infantry move forward slowly. They were followed close behind by a tank, and then another which had about a dozen infantry along side. This was as good as it was going to get I figured.
I jumped up on the tank and briefed the crew. I told them there were 2 tanks ahead with dismounted infantry in front and along side. I told my gunner to again take the second tank first with our last remaining sabot round, then hammer in 2 hesh rounds and our final WP round into the first to shake and bake them up. This should also put the infanteers into a mild panic. I asked for questions and then got ready for action.
I told the driver to advance and we moved forward into a hull down, with only the turret showing. The driver knew when to stop when the gunner fired his first shot. He hit the second T-72 with a blinding flash and then turned his attention to the lead one. The loader already had a hesh round loaded and decided to add to the confusion by leaning down on the co-ax manual firing switch. As soon as the gunner fired, he had another hesh round out of the rack and into the breech almost before the gun returned to battery. A good loader will always be waiting for the gunner to shoot; not the other way around.
While I waited for the gunner to fire, I seen a flash and something went whirling over my head. I guess the infantry were not that confused that they couldn't get off a shot with the RPG. The second hesh round burst upon the lead tank followed closely by the fiery WP round, at all times accompanied by the loader's firing of the co-ax.
As fire and smoke engulfed the enemy position, it was time for us to go. To be safe I punched our left bank of smoke grenades and then backed off and quickly turned around and sped off.
As we began to descend toward the river I went through my options again. I was putting all our money on the chance of fording the river, as the map showed a small stream and a track leading from the far side. If that wasn't possible, a last stand at the river's edge with our two remaining hesh rounds, and abandon the tank and try to slip away in the forest. Sure we could go down fighting, but there was nothing to gain by that. We would put our escape and evasion skills to the test to fight another day.
But as the river came into view some doubt came over us. The small river depicted on the map was in fact a raging river, probably due to the fall rainy season. It was wide and certainly looked far too deep to ford. As we had some time before the enemy would continue their advance I got the crew up on top of the turret for a chin wag. I told them where we were, where I figured our lines were, and also of the approximate location of the recce patrol, 43C. We had some discussion and looked at the river but didn't agree on a final plan.
Herein steps the leadership and I laid out my plan. We would attempt to ford the river as although deeper than we would have liked it, the banks on each side appeared good enough to enter and exit the river. From then we would drive as far as we could on our dwindling diesel, and then go forth on foot. The chances of crossing over to our lines on foot would be much better than with a tank. Our gunner asked me what would happen if the river is too deep and we stall mid river? I told him we would extricate ourselves and make our way to the other side. This would also render our beloved Leopard to be useless to the enemy. From the other side we would make our way to 43C's OP either all together or in pairs or individually. And then we would go with them.
They mulled it around and decided that was in fact the best plan. Little did they know that if they didn't think it was a good plan, we were going to do it anyway because I thought it was the best plan.
We got ready to ford. The driver ensured his hatch seal was clean and had a tight fit. We installed muzzle covers and gummi plugs. The turret was locked in and the submergence hydraulics were pumped up. We installed our fording tower. Our driver had his rebreather ready. We started up and then closed the loader's hatch. All the air going to the engine was now coming into the commander's hatch. We switched on the bilge pumps and entered the river.
The entrance was fairly good. Our driver eased in then sped up to stay behind the bow wave. We soon got into deeper water which covered the hull. I know from experience that driving underwater is an eerie experience, but my driver has done it a couple of times during training. As we neared the center of the river, the water reach up to our MBGD's and we began to be pulled slightly down river. I gave directions to the driver to straighten our course. We soon passed by the center of the river and started to breath easier. But then suddenly we drove into a hole and water poured over the turret. We hit another hole and the fording tower was ripped from the turret. I only managed to stay on the tank. Lots of water was pouring into my hatch, and I was ready to give the order to abandon tank.
Then we came out of the hole and were safe again. Soon the water was below the hull again and we started to cheer and laugh. Then we came to the bank and couldn't get up it. Our joy was short lived. I looked around the bank and viewed a pile of down trees that may come in useful, but decided that there was not enough to support our 44 tons. I looked upstream and downstream and could not see anything inviting. I decided to move the downed trees into position and take a run at getting over the bank. We quickly dismounted and began to drag the trees to the waterline. It looked woefully unimpressive but we gave it a try. We backed the tank until just before the drop off, and then put it in gear and accelerated forward. Due to our acceleration, we soon crested the bow wave and water flowed over the turret and into the commander's hatch again. I knew we were heading for shallower water and told our driver to keep going. We hit the bank a little more elevated and just barely scrambled up it on to dry land. Just as we were feeling good for ourselves, a screaming projectile landed nearby followed by the blast from the far side. They had caught up to us and we had to press on. With a few more explosions around us we headed up hill.
When we got to the top, I decided to take a halt. We back far into the woodline. I then dismounted and proceeded to a position of observation of the river crossing site. There were several tanks and BMPs at the far side, and I feared that they would attempt a crossing also. I observed them for about 15 minutes until they finally bussed up and headed back out the hill. I guessed they didn't think a dangerous river crossing was worth it.
We took stock of our situation. We only had 2 hesh rounds for the main gun left, and just over a box of co-ax. We were very low on diesel and had a few days left of rations. I called up 43A on the radio, and he told me of a combat outpost about 20kms to the west. He also said that moving to his position was not recommended because although undetected, he was surrounded by enemy forces. I thanked Derek and signed off.
Well we were still behind enemy lines and had maybe enough diesel to get to our lines. However we were for once in a fairly secure position. I decided not to press our luck in daylight and moved well away from the track leading to the river onto another track. There we back far into the tree line and extensively cammed up again. Although I felt more secure than the previous night, we still mostly stayed in out positions throughout the day. But I let one crewmember at a time to stretch out on the back deck for some quality sleep time.
The day passed uneventfully and darkness fell. Although we could not talk to the outpost over the radio, 43A could. Apparently he had some sort of fancy directional antenna in use. We told him to relay that we would be attempting to cross over tonight in his area. The outpost commander said he would brief his guys about a friendly tank coming, and suggested a night recognition signal of 2 blue, 1 red, and 3 green. I agreed. Then I got our army angle flashlights together to prepare to flash the recognition signal. Well we had lots of red filters and blue filters, but no green ones. We fixed that by colouring one of the diffused lens green with a green stadler. Really, what the heck is that lens used for anyway?
We set off at 1 in the morning. From a map recce I had planned a route that bypassed villages and obvious defensive positions. We drove down many black tracks that could hardly support tractors, let alone tanks; the Rick Hillier approach to tank warfare.
As we got closer to our lines, we entered into our final route; a small black track the wound its way through a woodline and away from an obvious crest where there were probably enemy positions. I hoped that this small twisty trail would be small enough that the enemy would pay it much concern.
As we entered it I discovered why. I was almost too small to accept Volksmarchers let alone tractors and tanks. We forced our way between trees, and when that was not possible, over them. We were deep in the woods and I could not see much, relying mostly on the driver and his 501 sight. We finally made it to the end of the black track/goat trail.
We had an open area to our front along side a stream and a woodline that would force us up into higher ground and towards the friendly outpost. By now we should have been able to talk to them over the radio, but our allotement of freq had ended and we were again in contact with no one.
Well they were expecting us and we did have a night recognition signal, so we push forward. I decided on a slow approach to as not to panic the defenders.
Well I soon began to flash them the signal, and did so for a little bit, until the red filtered flashlight didn't light up at all. As I was bashing that flashlight on the top of the turret, I inadvertently knocked the green filtered flashlight off the turret.
Well here goes nothing. We motored slowly past the out post in the low ground. I guess they really were expecting us. We turned back in the low ground and switched off. I dismounted and looked for the commander.
I found a young RCR Captain in charge. He told me that a enemy push was anticipated and he could sure use a tank. I told him we were virtually out of ammo and gas. He could supply us with diesel, but not with ammo. I told him that I'm glad for the fuel, but when I use it to go get bombed up, I may get another mission and not be able to return to his aide. He realized this, and gave me the location for the nearest tank harbour where I could get more ammo. We fueled up and headed west.
As we drove into an RCD regimental harbour far behind the lines, we got resupplied and then done some maintenance. There was a hot meal available at the kitchen trailer, and afterwords the crew set up their sleeping kits and soon were enjoying a relaxing sleep for the first time in days.
The OC wanted to see me, and I went to his tent for a meeting. I felt sorry for him because all he had left of his Sqadron was a Troop+. He welcomed me back and asked if I would like anything. I told him I would love a drink, and he pulled out a bottle of Jaegermeister. Steve then told me that the last week had been very hard on him. I agreed as it was hard on me too; he had lost most of his Sqn and I had lost my Troop. We talked about my experiences and he told me that the old man, the CO, would probably like to see me for my valuable information on the enemy and terrain in front of us. I finished my drink and made my way to RHQ.
I got to the Regt command post and asked if the old man was around. He was indeed and I was soon showed to his tent. Knowing that a drink with the OC was totally acceptable, I answered his answer with a request for a drink. Rob brought our a bottle of good scotch and poured us a drink. He called some members of his staff, including the Int Officer. He didn't offer them a drink. He listened intently to my report, and then on questioning his staff members sent them off. He poured another drink for us and we reminesced about old times. I soon became sleepy and asked to leave.
I headed back to my tank to settle down for the night. What tomorrow might bring I do not know. But this was certainly a glorious episode in the history of call sign 33C.

Tomorrow would indubitably start another episode.



25 Jun 2010

In case you are wondering why the dream log is not updated very much is because I have the same dreams over and over; and do not think you are interested in repeated brain movies.




19 June 2010

My death.

Well to set this up, I went to my brother Andy's place yesterday. I arrived around 13:00 and proceeded to help him put OSB on one of the walls of his straw bale house.
You see he started to build a straw bale house 2 years ago, and the mud and stucco covering over the bales has failed. Therefore he is putting OSB sheets over it and then shingling the out side..
I had already suggested supper - make your own quesidillas, or jam stuff between two tortillas and enjoy..
During the eating of supper, the comment of a round boat came up. I said just like the Monty Python movie Jabberwocky were the main guy paddles out to a watery shed and says goodbye to his true love, Griselda.
Well at the end of the night, after my dog had been sprayed by a skunk,I decided to spend the night with her out in my little tent.
My first dream was that we were staying outside of Andy's in some army tents that I supplied. I had 4 tents and I helped out my uncles and aunt set them up.
Unfortunately there were some folks who were drinking to the point of excess, and making a lot of noise. All we could do was roll over in out tents and try to block them out..

I had a typical army dream to start out with, which 6 beers before bedtime didn't conflict. I was a troop warrant in charge of some guys. We were staying in a large building. My friend Acif Walfield was helping me out when we had to move Armoured vehicles. Some times Acif drove those on his own. I had to talk to him to stop this. After all we need ground guides.

It then ran into a truck ride where I was in the back going back to base. I also woke up in my little tent outside Andy's at the same time, thereby making the dream more real. I was in the back of a truck going back to base. I slept in the back of the truck on the way back to base. I woke up a few times to find myself in my little tent, and then slipped back into the dream.
I dreamt in my dream of someone in a round boat paddling his way around. This was brought up before at Andy's and my Dad recognized it from Monty Python's Jabberwocky.
I fell asleep in the back of the truck. I dreamt of someone in a small round boat going down stream. I awoke in the back of the truck to hear soldiers saying that Chris Collier is missing. I went to my place and my parents were visiting. The Regimental Padre showed up and informed my parents that I was missing. The had video footage of someone entering a river close to where the Army truck stopped. In a few frames they caught a hairy bastard entering a river that would make a world class kayakist tremble.
They questioned me and took note of my dream of someone in a small round boat. The Regt padre got me and my parents together to tell them that I was missing. My parents didn't take it very well.
The Regt was having a dinner, and they turned it into a Chris Collier Dinner. I attended with my parents. My parents sat at the head table, and I came to accompany them. I still had my personal weapon on my since the exercise, and slid the .303 Vickers Machine gun under the table.
We were sitting at the head table, and after the soup and appetizers, I found myself on a boom being swung over the close tables. It was then that I really started to lose it and started to cry. As I passed over a table, someone yelled out why is there no seafood in the menu. My friend Larry Zaporazan sprung to action and gave them many extra duties.
While I started out strong, I was falling into depression.
The MP's showed up and broke the news that they found the body of Chris Collier. My parents said they wanted to see the body. The body was just out side the dinner place. There was another body of a female also.
I followed my parents out to see my body. The police warned them that it was not pretty, that thieves have gotten to me.
I followed my parents to the front gate to view the body of me.
They marched to the front gate where there was display set up. The female was in one piece and still had clothes. I was in several pieces and nude. I looked at my body, and then I looked at my head. Well if this is what my end would be, then so be it.
Then my Mom asked the obvious question : Why would Chris jump into a small round boat and try to make it home in an angry river? When he could just walk home?
The police wondered why?
Welcome to my problems...

Here is just another example of death dreams....







13 June 2010

"Contact, wait out".

For some reason I'm living with my parents and ready to go to a reunion of sorts. I want to wear my contact lenses so go look for them in the bathroom. I check all the shelves and drawers and what not looking for them, but can't find any. I'm positive I have plenty of them, if only I could find them!
Then I think I may have some in my shaving kit, so go to my room to look for that. I believe it is in my back pack I usually take on trips so I look for the back pack. I can't find it and start grumbling and swearing. This brings my parents to my room and they start looking also. Finally we find the back pack but no shaving kit inside.
So I go back to looking for the kit. I finally find it, but there is only some cleaning solution inside. Then I check a drawer and there are some lenses inside!
The are in packages I don't recognize, long and skinny. I take out one and open it up. The contact looks normal enough, but it soon grows to be much larger than my eye. I open another package, and the same thing happens. Then the contact starts to shrink smaller. I think this is OK, but it is not; the contact shrinks untill it is barely visible, then disappears. By now I'm seriously late for the affair and decide not to go.
In the morning I wake up and go to the bathroom. I open a drawer to get some toothpaste and there are about 10 packs of my regular contact lenses in there in plain sight. I would go for laser corrective surgery, but they won't do me because of my eye problems.
Rats....





11 Jun 2010

My right hand.

I'm in Lahr, Germany, back in the Army. I've just moved into a new apartment which reminds me of a trailer. I find some of the previous tenet's stuff, including some wrapped Xmas presents. Finding treasure is often included in my dreams. I look out a window and notice there is a bar right next door.It is Sunday and I go to sleep late that night.
I wake up the next morning around 06:30 and feel like going back to sleep. Then I think, wait I'm back in the Army and have to get up to go to work. I try to reason out how I can be back in the Army, and can't figure it out. As I'm trying to sort this out, I wake up a little and see the stairway outside my bedroom door. I fall back to sleep, and in my dream, realize that this is only a dream and I can go back to sleep. So I do.
I'm still sleeping when I hear someone come in. I get up and discover that 2 ladies are cleaning up the place. Apparently it is included in the price.
The next time I wake up, I'm in pain all over. My face is cut and swollen and covered in blood. Worse, my right hand is missing. All thoughts of this being just a dream are forgotten as the pain seems real enough. I can't drive so I take a bus to the base hospital. No one seems to notice me, and the bus takes forever to get there.

What follows is a series of comedic episodes of people trying hard not to give me aid. The first guy to see me can't find anything wrong with me and suggests I get to work. I'm shifted constantly around the hospital, and ever chance to bump my stump is taken advantage of. During this I seem to be above myself and looking down at it all. The pain is still there but dulled somewhat. I see one chap who yells at me because I didn't bring in my right hand in a bag of ice. At the end of the day, I'm realeased still covered in blood. I get on the same slow bus home.

Things shift around and I'm going to a function where Stephan Harper is going to attend. I'm still missing my right hand. I'm a bit mentally slow this time and am dressed in a variety of uniforms. I realize I'm not in the Army at this time, having been released due to mental challenges, and yes the no right hand bit. Also, I've apparently been drinking. The higher ups are appalled that I'm at the function. I wander around making a general fool of myself. My old nemesis, having stuff in my mouth, occurs and I go to the bathroom to try to clear it. I'm standing over a sink scooping stuff out of my mouth and vomiting when the PM walks in. He says he has just gotten involved in a group concerned with mental impairments and wants to see me in his office. I go to leave the bathroom but one of the PM's aides says that the PM will see my now in his office. He guides me back to the stalls, swings a door open and there he is sitting on the toilet with his pants around his ankles. He invites me in. Luckily I wake up around this time.
I see that I'm in my house and all this has been a dream. I fall back to sleep quickly and am back in my apartment. I'm still covered in blood and decide to take a shower to clean up. As I go to my bathroom, I discover it is a communal one with a large shower area. I'm just getting under the shower, when the doors burst open and a female soccer team charges in and starts stripping. The join me under the shower heads and we have a grand old time. I get all the blood off me, and somehow have grown my hand back. I wake up again to see the stairway outside my bedroom. RATS!!. I fall back to sleep hoping to pick things up in the shower room from when I last left off. No luck. I'm in the Regimental Duty Room and we are going over the duty list. It seems the real soldiers have gone off on exercise for a while and the rest of us have to do the guard duties. I write down my four days and shuffle off to find my truck; which of course I can't find. I finally find it and head off to my apartment. When I get to the front gate of the base, I realize I have no idea which way to turn, because I have no idea where my apartment is. I drive around aimlessly. I soon wake up.



06 Jun 2010

Gulag.

I'm walking down the street from the Canadian Kaserne towards the Haupstrasse in Lahr, West Germany. I meet an old guy who has an obvious problem with his hand. I talk to him, and he says he has to return to Russia to get medical treatment and a pension. I agree to accompany him as I'm sure the Canadian Army will realize I'm a bad leader by now.

We travel to Berlin on the train. We talk to the USSR embassy there and they tell us we have to go to Russia to get the medical help he requires. It is obvious now that the West German government would rather see old Russians die than give them health care..

We get on a train to Moscow. There is much suspicion with the border guards. Why is a young Canadian accompying an old Russian to Moscow? They let us through and we travel to Moscow.

We get there and go to the office that should provide my old friend with the needed medical help. But the politacal police put a stop to it, because he has come with a western accomplice. Not only will they not help him, they sentance him and me to the work camp in the east.

What seemed like a great cause to me, has turned into a world of slave labor. We work 12 hours a day. We toil away at mine work, with a brief reprieve to the coast to produce tuna and shark. Many men fall prey to the machinery. For us it is close to the Hungarian frontier, and we plot an escape route. We work all day, and at night we make our bid for freedom. We travel through all sorts of factories. It works and we get to the western society.






24 May 10

Confusion.

I was dreaming that I was back in Gagetown before I awoke this morning at the unusual time of 07:45. I was confused about where I was and what I was up to at the time. As I drifted off again to sleep, I dreamt that I was in an apartment in Lahr, Germany. I have to get up and go to work. Then I wondered how I came to be in Germany, when I've been technically out of the Army for months. I then remembered that I carried on working for no pay and a posting message came for me to go to Germany.

I was sorting out this confusion when I awoke briefly again and looked out my bedroom door to the stairway. Again I drifted off to sleep. This time I dreamt that I was in Gagetown working without pay again, and must have come home for the weekend. I should have gone back last night to Gagetown. I worried about not showing up this Monday morning. Then I thought "what can they do?". I decided that this would be my last week in Gagetown and I would return all my Army kit today in Gagetown. Then I decided to just say the heck with it all, I'm just not going back at all.

Then I awoke again and realized the truth, I've been out for years not months; I live now in PEI and I have re-occuring dreams of being back in the Army. Feeling good about my self, I got up and had breakfast.




20 May 10

Sneaky Recce Guys.

I'm in the Army and in Recce Sqn on exercise. We are driving around in Lynx's, a tracked vehicle. There are two Lynx's with each a crew of three. I'm sick and spend most of the time sleeping in my hatch while my junior Ron leads the patrol. We sneak around the trees and villages reporting on enemy action. We park in a village for a break and a big convoy of enemy vehicles enter the village and park around us. You can tell they are enemy because of the red crosses on them. We don't have any markings. They assume we are part of their Recce and leave us along, while we frantically radio in all the info to SHQ.
An umpire walks over to us. He knows who we are, but doesn't let the cat out of the bag, not his job anyway to do so. He wonders how long it will be before someone realized who we are. Another Recce patrol pulls in. They are attached to the enemy force, and know we are not. They don't really care one way or the other and then don't expose us either, enjoying the laugh.
There is an O group (meeting) and we are invited. The enemy force leader outline the plan for the next few day. I write this all down and give it to my observer to radio in. I'm am handed written orders even. We get tasked to set up an observation post close to the friendly lines. We set out to the OP but go right past it to our lines to hand in the written orders. We go back to the OP and enjoy the rest of the exercise!





18 May 10

School work.

I'm in the Army on course, but this time it is a math course. Most of the other students are civilians. We are sitting out side in a snowy field with our desks made out of snow. The course is near completion, with a week left. We are given our weekly test. I fly through it and am the first to finish. I pass in my test then go besides the field to walk around and warm up. As the other students finish, they join me and starts to horse around. I tell them that the Army has was to burn off energy and if they want to find out how, then keep horsing around.
I walk back to the desk and another student asks me if I got an answer to question #6? I tell him I answered all the questions so I must have answered #6. The instructor is nearby and adds "and he got it correct to". He looks at me and says" you may do well on the wood question on the final test, or at least come up with the Lott solution". Apparently the final includes a question about wood, and was answered by some fellow named Lott in an unique manner.
I think for a moment about how wood would enter a question about math, and then blank my mind again. The instructor has had enough of the horseplay and we are soon put to work shovelling off another classroom.





17 May 10

?

I'm in Gagetown again on course. It is the final day of the course. Everything goes fine. The next day I report to my place of duty at the Armoured School. The office is totally changed around, and there are new people there. Even our officer is new. I go to sports and almost get run over by a runaway fork lift.
I'm walking home late one night. It's late and I have a long way to go so I decide to have a nap. There is building nearby that has been locked up forever. I break in and look around. There are lots of pictures and placques on the walls, all about some old guy who was a poet. I go down into the basement and the old guy is living down there. He doesn't look good.



13 May 10

Bosnia.

It is back in Bosnia in fall '94. We are escorting a amall convoy through the lines to deliver aid to the Muslim folks. There are only 4 trucks and out Grizzly AFV out front. We get engaged from a treeline with RPGs and my vehicle get's hit.. The trucks all speed past my vehicle, which is normal SOPs. I find myself the only survivor of my section. While the trucks speed pass, the ambushers continue to pour fire into my vehicle. I don't know who the ambushers are but only can guess they are Serbs, determined to stop the flow of aid to the Muslims. We are far from the Croatian front line so that counts them out. As the fire rains down on my destroyed APC, a Canadian Lynx (a tracked recce vehicle that we didn't deploy to Bosnia) pulls up and the crew waves me on board. I see from their insignia and uniforms that the are Serbs. As we speed of the commander empties his ammo can full of .50 calibre ammo at the treeline. So the Muslims attacked a convoy of their own aid. NOTE - This happened often in real life, not just my dreams.
So my saviours drive on. We come to some villages that are Serb controlled then get to some that are Muslim controlled. The Lynx commander bravely fights his way through these. I'm in the observer's seat and don't want to fire as it could cause some serious world reprecussions. As we fight through one village, I can see the Muslim forces laying out a Serb family on their driveway from Father through to kids (another thing I witnessed in real life). That makes me even more angry; first they fire on a convoy with their own aid, then the carry out cleansing of all Serbs.
We fight out way through one last village and this time I shoot someone who aimed his rifle at us. I'm worried about this, but at the same time feel good.
We get to a Serb village and join up with other forces/vehicles. I note that once we get settled the driver carries out his track maintenance and the commander cleans his .50 cal MG. I'm still wearing my blue UN helmet.
Shortly we get ready to move again. We move through several friendly villages on our approach to the confrontation line. We are now escorting an aid convoy to a surrounded Serb village. As we approach the line, we go through a village with an UN presence, several British platoons in Warrior. As we get near, I take my helmet off to remain with the Serb forces. I have made my decision that the only right thing to do is to join the Serbs. I feel better than I ever felt in years. We fight through and deliver aid to folks that really needed it. That is more than I did with the Canadian Armed Forces and the fucking United Nations in the 5 months previous.
I will never wear the UN blue helmet/beret again. They did more to sustain the fighting in the Balkans than they did to stop it.
The awful trial of Slobadan Milosevic proves that the UN is a puppet to the USA. The USA tries to appease and beat the Islam countries at the same time. They supported the Bosnian Muslims, and for that I will always keep them at arms length and at a far reach of safety..
I love the Serbs!....





11 May 10

It's been a while since I had any vivid dreams.
Last night I dreamt I was on a reality cooking show. There was about 6 of us trying to impress a Gordon Ramsey type chef. On this part of the show he would give us some ingrediants and tell us to make somthing out of it. We did this one at a time, with the others in another room. Of course I got to see all the show, being as I'm the one who dreamt it. The others were pretty bad at cooking and I began to wonder what were the prerequisits to be on the show, if there were any. When my turn came I got some fish and some veggies and herbs,spices etc. I decided to cook them simply and that should raise me up over the other contestants. They tried to do too complicated dishes. I whipped something up and the chef seemed pleased.




6 May 10

On Tour.

Somehow I'm back in Afghanistan. But I'm not really sure what I'm there for. I never leave the base and don't appear to have any Troops to command. My friend talks me into going golfing, apparently there is a course nearby. As I'm leaving the base, the gate guard checks my pass. He is Malaysian or from Bandledash or some Asian nation. He stands about 5 foot nothing. He orders me to stand at attention while he inspects me. No I just watched him checking out several others without the standing to attention bit. So I make fun of him. He tells me to stand to attention again, and I comply a bit. He gets very upset and says "I recommend a fine for you!", and turns to his desk and then hands me a bunch of paperwork. There are several sheets of paper, and listed on each is about 6 fines of about $12 each. I look around for some help, and a Canadian WO is there, but all he tells me is to take it up with my supervisor, which leads me to wonder who that is. We get on a small bus and roar off to the golf course. Along with our clubs, we also bring alone a full kit bag and our dress uniform in a suit bag. My friend insisted on this, as there is a dress parade later that day and we may be pressed for time getting back. We get to the course and we have to wait in a long line up. We pay and get a locker key to put our uniforms in. The lockers are old wooden things and we can't find ours, so we have to go back and wait in the lineup again. We finally get sorted out and find a locker that barely holds our stuff.
We hit the course and I have a terrible round. I'm angry and severly frustrated. I'm looking forward to seeing the little guard from Monkeyland again.





3 May 10

Crime Stoppers and Arts.

Several different episode's in tonight's dreams.
First of all I'm a detective trying to track down a murderer, only to find that the murderer is trying to track down my wife/girlfriend. I wait him out at home while my partner goes on about an old crime. He tells the story and we try to figure out who is the culprit.
Now I'm a civilian going through a self defense and gun handling course. A policeman is teaching us. He tells us how to be defensive in nature and always be on your toes for criminal activity. He ends up with what you should do when driving and someone tries to flag you down or just pulls up beside you. Afterwards he gives us all pistols, 10 automatics and 10 revolvers. I for some reason decide to bring my own pistol, a Glock 17, with me, even though it is not registered and therefore illegal. All the guns are not loaded. We pile into a schoolbus and drive around practising scenarios. At one point he asks me for my pistol to demonstrate something then gives it to someone else in the back of the bus. I ask for it back but only get his pistol, a revolver instead. We continue to drive around pointing our guns at innocent drivers and at one point are racing a train down a parallel track through a tunnel. We stop for a break and I finally get my gun back. I think that the instructor must have noticed that it was a Glock and knows there shouldn't be one in our group. I wonder why he didn't question me on it, and if he did, then he as a cop, would have to charge me for an illegal gun. We finish the practises and on the drive back to the classroom, the cop tells us to clean our guns. I strip down the Glock, but it falls into many small metal parts and one very big ceramic type part that shatters when it hit the floor. Now I know that there is no such part in a Glock, but it is a dream. I have no idea how to put it back together so just pick up everything and put it in my pockets. Getting close to the classroom, the bus stops at an elementary school. He names 5 of us to go in the school and get a free haircut. We get off and enter the school. It is about 1900hrs by the way. We go to an area where there about 3 barbers cutting hair. There are lots of soldiers waiting in line. I sit down by my old friend, Dave Clark, and we discuss what each of us are doing. Dave goes for his haircut and the barber announces that he is his last customer for the night. I have to join another line and sit down at a picnic table along side Ian Hape. I tell him what's going on. Now my pockets are bulging with the ceramic stuff from my gun. There are in small pieces and look alot like cement chips. I figure that it isn't any good anyway and start to drop it under the table and mix it in with the gravel. I soon get rid of it all. I'm called up to the barber. He is a very old Asian man who speaks little English. He motions me to sit on a stool and shows me photos of men with several different haircuts. I'm supposed to choose one of the haircuts. I pick the shortest one, and he starts in. He is finding it difficult because I keep sliding off the stool.
Next episode I'm part of a play. We are practising for an upcoming show on the Saturday coming. There will be two shows. Also earlier there will be a 10 km run and a supper afterwards. My job is to perch on a window high above the seats on the left side of the theatre. The window is inbetween the seats and the stage. There is a long column I'm supposed to hang on to. On the stage side of the column are all the lines from the play. This is in case someone gets stuck and forgets a line. The audience cannot see the lines. I'm about 20 feet up. We practise all week and then do two shows on the Saturday. After all this I realize that I have no idea what the play is about. I guess my brain couldn't make up this dream and the play at the same time.




2 May 10

Hockey.

I'm in Petawawa and going to the rink for a friendly hockey game in the afternoon. Surprisingly when I open up my hockey bag everything is there. I get the gear on and hit the ice. Everybody is just skating around warming up and taking shots at the goalies. I'm on the bench for the first face off. As I watch the play I notice there is a very old gentleman on the ice. He must be around 85 or so. He isn't wearing hockey gear just street clothes. He takes tiny little steps with his skates. There is no gliding involved, just the little tiny steps. The action goes on all around him. The whistle blows and I jump the boards to play. I line up at right wing. Before the ref drops the puck he tells me to get my stick on the ice. I do, but he repeats it. I look down and all I have in my hands is my pen, which is a space pen so it can write in cold weather but not much good for hockey. I skate over to the bench and find my stick.
The play goes on and not surprisingly I'm a total geek out on the ice. I almost run into the old man several times. At one face off I notice the old man attempting to climb over the boards opposite the benches. He finally gets over the boards and lands heavily on the floor. His momentum takes him to a door, which opens on contace, and then outside. A player jumps the board to check on him. I think I hear him say "ambulance" and skate over to make sure. I notice that outside the doorway there is a river going by about 6 feet from the arena, and the old man is in it. The guy comes to me and says he needs a two foot tall step ladder. I'm puzzled at the request, but go off in search of one. I go out into a hallway and look in some closets for one. Not finding one I go to the equipment room, which is where you can sign out hockey gear if needed. I tell the lady there is an emergency and I need a two foot tall step ladder. The calmly and slowly looks around the room for one. She finds one and gives it to me. Just as I'm about to leave she demands that I sign for it. I'm amazed by this, but after all it is an Army thing. Just before I sign for it, I look down and I'm not holding a two foot step ladder but an easel with extending legs. I tell her this won't do and leave. As I'm walking down the hallway to get back on the ice I notice some workman's stuff. Included is a two foot step ladder. I take it and hurry across the ice with it. I give it to the guy, who calmly places it beside the boards. The old man gracefully steps onto it and over the boards he goes. He gets up and resumes his tiny little step skating. And the hockey game goes on. After the game I'm sitting in the crowded dressing room. I have to go back to work after, but notice I don't have an uniform in my bag (I came to the rink in PT gear). So I figure I'll have to drive all the way out to Chalk River and back. I search for a towel and finally find one. I then head for the showers, but I can't find them. A tall man with long hair and scraggly beard asks me if I'm looking for the showers. I say yes and he says follow me. So I and two more guys follow him down hallways and through rooms. He finally leads us through a doorway and we discover we are standing in a store. We tighten our towels around our waists and follow him through it. It appears to be a new cash sales store, which is where you can buy uniforms and accessories for them. He opens a door and reports this is the shower room. There is only one head and I tell the others to go first. When my turn comes I get under the showerhead and get wet. Along about this time I notice I don't have any soap or shampoo. I turn to ask the others if I could borrow some, but they have left already. I check the soap holder in the wall and there's none there. It is at that time when I notice a vending type machine on the far wall. I investigate it and find that for a toonie you can buy a small bar of soap or a small bottle of shampoo (like the size you would get at a hotel). I'm shocked at the prices! And who brings change to the shower room? I search around and near the drain I find a piece of soap about the size of a toonie. I lather this up on my head and as much on to my body as it will go, then rinse off. As I go through the store there is a large group of Army Cadets in there. They stare at me as I go. Of course I get lost on the way back to the dressing room, and end up in various places and offices with just my towel around me, which seems to be getting smaller and smaller. I finally find my way back to the dressing room to find that all my gear is gone. I walk out to the parking lot, where my keys and wallet are, and drive back to Chalk River. I don't come back to work..



30 April 10

More Army life.

I'm living at an Army base in the barracks. Like most of my Army dreams this base is a mixture of all the bases I've been at. It's morning and I'm getting ready to go to work. I have a hard time finding all my uniform to put on. On the way to work I stop off at the mess hall for breakfast. For a change I'm going to get bacon and eggs. There is hardly anyone at the mess hall. There is no line up, but there is no cook behind the steam line to cook my eggs. I realize then that I do not have a tray for my plate and go over to where they are stacked and grab one. As I'm going for the tray a cook comes out from out back, looks around and retreats out back. When I get back to the steam line, I just see his back as he is going through the doors. Along about then I realize that I didn't pick up any cutlery, so go back over to where the trays are and pick up a KFS. When I get back I see the back of the cook retreating again out back. I'm starting to get a little annoyed. I wait for about 5 minutes and then the cook comes out again. He asked me how I would like my eggs and I say "over easy". He looks at me and says "over"? I nod yes and he goes about his work. I look around at the deserted mess and wonder where everyone is. I hear the cook tell me "here you go" and hear the plate being placed on the tray. I turn around and now the counter is much higher than normal, if fact it is way over my head. I go on my tippy toes and still can't reach it. I say the hell with eggs and just go for a glass of orange juice.
After a long search I finally find a clean cup, and then try to find the orange juice. There are many machines that dispense liquids, but they are all milk or red Kool-aid. I choke down an ultra-sweet glass of kool aid.
Upon leaving the mess, I notice I'm not wearing my uniform shirt, but just have on a black muscle type shirt. I wonder how I made this mistake and hurry to my truck before anyone can see me out of dress. As I get to the parking spot, I find out that I don't have the truck anymore, just my bike. And it started raining. I get on the bike and hope I can get back to the barracks with no one noticing me. I put my head down and pedal as fast as I can to get there in a hurry. When I look up I see that I have missed a left turn and am approaching one of the gates on this base. As I turn around it starts to snow. Getting back to the missed corner takes a much longer time then it seemed on the way out. By the time I get to the corner I'm plowing through snow a foot deep. I finally get to the barracks and sort out my uniform.
On arriving at work all the other instructors (this part takes place at the Armour School in Gagetown) are all talking about the supposed big changes that the new CO is putting in place. We wait for our officer to come and brief us on the new plans. When he comes he passes on the usual UFI and then gets to the changes. Sports afternoon will now be on Thursdays from 1300hrs to 1500hrs, a change from Tuesdays from 1300hrs to 1430hrs. Lunch hours will be from 1200hrs to 1300hrs, a change from 1145hrs to 1300hrs. All instructors will do PT with their courses. And that is about it. I wonder what all the fuss was about. The silence is broken when the rest of the instructors begin to complain about every little change. The really sound like grade 3 kids now.




28 April 10

Madness.

Oh where to start? The beginning seems to be a good fit.
I'm at my parents for the holidays. My parents invite a bunch of people over for supper, mostly my brother's friends. I start the day out in a foul mood, a foreshadowing of what's to come. In the afternoon the people start arriving. They are mostly young hippie types and pretty soon candles are lit and the soft chanting begins. I settle down and watch someone play a video game of death and destruction. As it gets darker, I try to turn on some lights, but none work except the ultra low wattage ones that are in the ceiling fixtures. This stirs a deep and wide rage inside me.
I try to sit down for dinner, but the incessant babbling further ires me. I finally give it up and go down the hall to go to bed. I jump in bed and find two more peace-niks in there. I jump out of bed and turn the light on. It doesn't work either so I give the wall a punch. This causes the wall and the floor of the bedroom to fall into the basement. I stand in the hallway looking down at the mess. I realize that somewhere in that mess is my back pack with my meds, which I haven't taken for a day or two (ah-ha! - the cause of all my problems that day). I go down to the basement to rout through the mess to find them. A fire breaks out and I have to go faster. Something falls from the ceiling and strikes my head. I wake up sometime later in the basement. The fire is out and a para-medic is looking at me. He asks me how I am. I tell him ok. I try to get up, but he has got me tied up. He tells me I've gotten out of control. I tell him I need my meds that are in my backpack. He brings the back pack to me and some meds out.
He opens a bottle and shows me one pill and asks me if I can identify it. In all the smoke and confusion and he is holding it too close and I have my contacts in, I can't ID it. Well, looks like you can't have that one he says. He repeats this for all the pills. I tell him the name of what I need but he can't find them. I tell him to go to my truck for my emergency pill case and give them all to me. When he turns his back, I get loose and jet to my truck.
As I'm opening up the passenger door, I slip and fall into the deep snow. I try to get out of the ditch but the hippies have decided that if they shovel the driveway they may save a whale from a long death in the Amazon jungle, or whatever drives hippies actions. I'm soon buried under a mountain of snow and can't move. Curiously I'm not cold and actually comfortable. I soon fall asleep.
I awake in a tank hangar on some Army base. I'm in an office and through the open door can see the Squadron arriving for work in the morning. I know I should get up, but can't seem to move. I close and open my eyes and am in a different room. I think it is my room in the barracks, but soon realize it is my room here in my little house in Gowan Brae. I wink again and am back in the office. This continues for a little while. Once, I hear the Squadron leader addressing the leadership of the Sqn. He is briefing them on our upcoming mission to some god forsaken country. He has just got his orders to start training for the mission and outlines his plans for said training. I continue to materialize in the office and my room and back throughtout. I hear him say something like "and where's Warrant Collier, he will have to start the gunnery training plan". And no one seems to know where I am. The meeting breaks up and I can hear the Sergeant Major coming near my office. I manage to make a noise and am pulled out by the ankles from under a table or something. He tells me that we have a lot of training to do. I tell him that I've been out of the Army for months and just showing up but today was the last day for that silliness. He doesn't believe me and goes to investigate. I go downstairs to the hangar floor to get some stuff out of my locker. All 19 of the tanks are parked outside the hangar, with the crews working on them. I go out to say good bye to the few I know. All of a sudden it starts raining heavily. Everyone starts up their tanks at the same time and try to back in the hangar. It is total confusion and is getting dangerous. I try to tell some to stop but with the roar of the diesels I'm drowned out. Eventually everyone gets backed in and the rain stops.




25 April 10

Babe we couldn't get much higher.

I'm living at my parent's place. I visit the shed in the backyard and open the trap door to my secret hiding place. All my treasures are in there. I exit and wander around the yard. There is a big screen TV on the house that is controlled by the people watching the sports program. There are about 50 of them in the backyard. Most of the close ups involve the chicks in the audience. I am above that and practise floating a volleyball over my head. This is a side effect to me being able to fly/levitate. Soon the crowd is gone and it is just me and my Dad in the back yard. Mom is there also giving me heck when I try to control the volleyball and tread in her gardens. I make my way to the back of the property as I start to lose control over the ball. I think I have to get closer so follow the ball into the small creek, where I get soaked. I manage to bring the ball back into the yard and everything is OK.
Then I lose the ball again in the creek. It is winter now and snow is everywhere. As I go to the drop off to the creek I find a huge pile of fox skins in the creek. They are red, silver and black; all the shades of fox on the Island. I get very upset about the useless killing of these foxes as I'm against most mammal killing.
It is about this time that I start to float or levitate. In some dreams I can fly but these I just float up. My parents have no idea I can do this. I only show them that I can float up about 50 feet or so.
But the best part is I can float much higher; I can go up into outer space where the angels fly. I tell my Mom this and she doesn't believe me. So I go across the road from her house and rig up a camera to me and tell her to watch the TV screen. When I float like this I have to raise both arms above my head and then press down on each side to bring my arms to my side. The lower my arms go the faster and higher I go. Sometimes I can do this - sometimes not. I attempt it and it works! I go higher and higher. It is nighttime so I can soon see the lights of Charlottetown, Summerside, Moncton and so forth. When I get high enough to see the whole country of Canada it looks like a map, with different coloured and labelled provinces! Who knew! Then I get high enough to see the planet. How I can live at this height I don't know. Perhaps because I can't stay there long and then have to fall back to earth; kinda like those deep sea free divers that can go into the depths and back without getting the bends.
I come back and we go into the house. Mom is beside herself because the has either given birth to a super hero or a freak of nature.
I open a beer and sit down in front of the TV to watch the hockey game as it's no big deal for me - I've been higher before......





25 April 10

Disturbian suburbian.

I'm living in PEI but go for a visit to Chalk River. I stop on the way in Montreal to find the Nudy Bars I think I've been to but just dreamt of. This involves about 4 hours of driving around the suburbs of Montreal. I have enough and hit the highway for Ottawa. I'm hoping I can get to the Bare Fax before closing time, but I don't make it. I drive on through the night.
I arrive in Chalk River in the morning about 0900hrs or so on a Saturday. My house has just recently been sold by Doug to a young family. I had planned on staying in my old house but not now.. I meet the young lady in the house and said I'm the one who sold the house to her. But I didn't, Doug did.
I go to the neighbours and drop off my stuff. It is summer and I'm anticipating going out on the Ottawa river with my neighbours. Their son, Mark and their son in law Blaine are getting ready to go out on a fishing trip. I presume they will invite me, but they don't. No big deal, I may go out with Mickey and Cheryl on their pontoon boat. But they don't seem interested in doing anything but sitting in their car port and laughing at their grandchildren.. But that is OK with me, and set up my tent in their backyard.
I'm drawn to my old house, and go to it. I feel an urge to fly and float off the ground. I reach the upper branches of some trees. As I perch on these high branches I feel something in my mouth. I reach in and pull out a mass of something. I can feel it detaching from the back of my mouth and I fling it to the ground. I float down to Mickey's carport where they are sitting. I feel more stuff in my mouth and reach in to pull it out. It won't detach from the back of my throat and I have to bite on it to get it out of my mouth. It is a black shiny mass and I throw it in a ditch that has about 6 inches of water in it. When it lands it starts to swim around. Before I can get totally disgusted by this, I start to choke on another mass in my mouth.
These dreams are starting to get on my nerves...




24 April 10

Geeks.

A dream that takes place at an Army base, no particular one. There is a huge barracks complex that includes mess halls, messes (drinking), stores and restaurants. I've visited this place many times in my dreams. I'm getting out of the Army and have to pack up my stuff, which takes forever. Then I remember that I have a key to another room in the barracks. The rooms are organized in groups of 10, each group having a common area and a laundry room, then there are 2 rooms per floor for 5 floors. I head down the hall to this other room. I realize then that I can't remember the room number and wander aimlessly around. I drop by several common areas just to see if anything looks familiar or if there is someone there that may know if I have a room there. Nothing comes of that. So I head back to my room. On the way I try to figure out where my truck is in order to load it up with my stuff. I walk around all the parking lots with no success. Totally irritated I'm about to go back to my room when I see a car I used to own in a parking spot. It is an old Opel Rekord but has been modified extensively by the new owner to make it look like a muscle car. I still have a key for it and figure I may as well use this car to move.
I hop in and drive to front of barracks. While I'm walking in the door some guys shout at me and start running toward me. Oh-oh, these guys must have seen me drive up in their car. Thus starts a foot race around the barracks, then I get back out to the car and thus starts a car race around the base. I end up parking the car in back of some building and running back to the barracks.
Late that night, around 01:30hrs, I hear some noise coming from my common area. I go down to investigate. There seated around the table were the geeks from my my area playing some sort of board game. They ask me to join as they need one more player to make it really work. I couldn't sleep anyway so I sat down. Thus started a weird dream sequence where the room would get spun around and around and end up in different areas and locations. Sometimes we would be out in the open, sometimes at a built up area, and sometimes in different common areas. We seems to be looking for someone, and there was an evil women looking for her too. It was a very detailed dream that I could not possibly remember and write down with any accuracy or the extent of detail neccessary. Near the end we ended up in some other common room fighting the evil woman for the girl we were seeking. We had gathered money and gems during our journey to fight with. We would take turns with the evil woman laying down money or gems and shouting at the top of our voices some word which I forget but is something like "Complicitivityness". As we fought the residents of the rooms were shouting down the stairs for us geeks to F..k off. In the end we almost win, but run out of money and gems. The room spun around again and we end up in some valley in the middle of nowhere. Now we have a problem-how to get back to our common area. We end up exploring the valley and find some gems. We use these to get the room spinning around again, but don't end up at home. So we looked for more gems and etc, etc. After about 10 different spins ( and narrowly avoiding a few fist fights when we spun into the same common areas we had woken up before)we got back to our common area. Everybody was getting up and ready for work, so I went to my room and went to sleep.




23 Apr 10

Movie type again. I'll try to make it clear for civilians.

I'm kinda watching this dream as a movie, but involved in it at the same time. It opens up with Charlie Sheen as a soldier out in the field. I think it is during a war but it turns out not. It's raining and an overall shitty day and terrain. Charlie gets told a helicopter is coming out to get him as he has some kind of appointment. The NCO that tells him this also tells him to trade his M-60 machine gun with the sniper dude's rifle, as they have a live fire exercise the next day and need the MG. The weather is so bad the chopper flight is cancelled and won't be available for another 2 days. He keeps the sniper rifle for the live fire the next day, as the sniper would like to carry the MG and Charlie Sheen would like to try sniping.
The next day is gloomy and shitty and raining again. The exercise is a Platoon attack (about 30 troops); attacking a dug in position. There is about a kilometer of open ground the Platoon have to cross before they get to the trenches. Charlie is on the far right. He will fire at targets of opportunity while the rest of the Platoon advance. At the far trench lines there are pop up targets to play the part of the enemy. These targets will go down if they are shot. Charlie is set and the Platoon begin to advance. The Platoons machine guns are on the right flank covering the advance. The plan is to advance halfway (500 metres), bring the MGs and snipers up in line, advance half way again (250 metres) and bring the MGs and snipers up in line again where they will support the final attack on the trenches.
As the Platoon advances the first 500 metres there are no targets for the MG or snipers to fire at. They are called forward and go up in line with the Platoon. During the next movement, Charlie can spot pop up targets and engages them. He has a rifle with a special sight, it holds a laser range finder which when he fires the laser moves the crosshairs (usually down and a bit left or right); all he has to do it move/point the rifle so the crosshairs are back on the target, verify crosswind with his spotter and engage the targets. During all this, I'm both looking down at Charlie and also can see through his sight. He hits the first target. When engaging the second he gets a shimmering movement in his sight, but fires and hits the target and drops it.
This carries on for the rest of the attack until the Platoon is actually in the trenches and it is not safe for the snipers or MGs to engage anymore. After the attack there is a debrief of it. The whole attack has been monitored by computers and every shot has been identified. Don't ask me how this works, because I don't know. And by the way - this is the US Army - not Canadian.
The debrief identifies good points and bad. The bad ones are noted to be worked on in the future. The machine gunners get a positive review but not much is reported on the snipers. The Platoon is dismissed to get on with post ex activites. But they hold Charlie back, and the Platoon Leader and the Company Commander. They show a readout where most of Charlie's shots were out of the safe arcs, either endangering the ranges on the sides or worst-his own Platoon. Here I realize what the shimmering movement was - his sight was being controlled by something/someone else. Even though he argues that he hit every target and that every target was in arcs, they believe the computer readout. We discover here that there is a conspiracy against Charlie. He is dismissed pending further investigation.
It is at this time that I become part of the movie/dream. I'm a close friend of Charlie's in the Platoon, a fellow machine gunner. I'm sort of in between dimensions; I was not involved with the making of the movie yet I'm part of it. I recall that the year before when I was away from Petawawa on course or something, that the Brigade was involved with a movie. Now as I look around at our barracks and everything I seem to remember it is all parts of Petawawa and Pembroke that got made up to look like something else. As we are going about our post ex activities (ie. the big clean up) I recognize guys from the Regiment acting and not recognizing me. I finally run into Kieth Whelan, and ask him if I'm going to be in this Hollywood movie when it gets released. He smiles chesire like and tells me something like well you are here aren't you.?
The movie kinda pushes Charlie to the background and focuses on me from now on (I know big surprise). Of course there is the obligitory shower scene where I can't find a civil place to pee or shower. I don't know why this pops up in almost every dream; I've never been assaulted in a bathroom or shower. Maybe it is Man's eternal struggle to find a nice quiet place to poop?
The town of Pembroke is made up to look like an amalgamation of places I've been to: Fort Riley Kansas, Gagetown, Bosnia, Germany, Afghanistan, and Thailand to name a few. We are walking around having a good time. We are carrying our rifles with us, which instead of modern rifles have turned into some kind of World War 1 bolt action rifle with a small bayonet attached. Every time we hit something with the bayonet, it gets bent out of shape and we have to straighten it.
One of the younger soldiers, Dan Fuller-Evens (a young soldier in my last troop in real life) goes into an establishment for some crimson apple, which is basically LSD. He has never taken it before. He goes on a trip which eventually turns bad. He is walking by the Soviet Embassy and decides to start shooting at it. The guards fire back and he is hit and goes down beside me. On initial check, all I see is a lead pellet from a pellet gun stuck to his forhead. We figure he'll come around shortly. Then we check the back of his head, and it is gone. When we turn him back over it is very apparent he is dead.




22 Apr 10

Been a fairly uneventfull couple of night. Nothing really stood out.




20 April 10

A house for a home.

I'm living in my parent's home on the lot in North River. I'm not sure where they are as I have the home to myself. Dave Corney is going to move in with me. I show him the house. I get a ladder to show him the attic. We squeeze up a ridiculously tiny opening to get to the attic. Once up there the attic turns out to be huge. You can walk around and it is well lit. It kinda looks like a warehouse floor. There are boxes and stuff around. It has windows. Dave is impressed.
I tell him wait until I show you the bunkers under the vacant lot next door. There is an opening in the basement wall that leads to an underground complex. I've only been there once, and it has a lot of old electronics and neat stuff. (this bunker has been in so many of my dreams that I seriously have to think if it is for real or just a dream)
We look out a window and see our RSM there who tells us that our Career Manager will be at the mess for interviews until 1700hrs. We walk back to the opening. I pass some army guys stacking crates. They are from Base Supply and apparently Dad had rented out space for them to store stuff. Whatever.
We go down to the main floor and I look for some kind of clothes to wear for my interview. Dave is his uniform but for some reason I don't put mine on. I look in my room for something to wear, but I can't remember where anything is, or even if I have a certain item. I end up putting on my uniform.
As we leave the house I anticipate getting a drive with Dave to the mess, as I have misplaced my truck yet again. He informs me that he walked here and we can walk to the mess. At this time I seem to think the house is somewhere close to CFB Gagetown. When we leave the house I then conclude it is in fact in Lahr, Germany. I tell Dave that this interview will probably not go well as I've been out of the Army for a year now. I hope they will at least pay for my flight back to Canada.
Dave is walking casually along, but I have to jog to keep up with his long legs. We get on base and pass by some buildings with tanks and such outside. We cut through a compound and see some tanks there. At first I think they are US M-1 tanks, but the turrets look like Isreali Merkava ones. I see Sean Mercer jumping out of one and ask him what they are. He tells me they are brand new Thunder Three's, a joint US, Canada, Isreali tank that will be outfitting all 3 armies.
I hurry to catch up to Dave and just see him jump in a car with some of my other friends and speed off. I continue my slow walk to the mess, anticipation I'll be too late for an interview but probably the Career Manager won't have a file on me anyway. Maybe I can stay under the radar for a little while longer.




18 April 10

More Army.

Another back in the Army on course type of dream. Once again I decide to just pack up and leave for PEI. From there the dream devolves into me being able to levitate, fight some bad guys and nuclear devastation. It doesn't end well.




16 April 10

Hockey game.

I'm driving back to Ontario from the states. As I near Buffalo I decide to check out a hockey game; the Montreal Canadiens are in town against the Sabres. The game is about half way through when I arrive. I get a parking spot next to the arena. I go to a side door and get in for free. Soon I'm rinkside watching the action. A friend, Pete Spital, is beside me. He is dressed up as a referee. He tells me he is the spare referee in case one gets hurt. I didn't even know he liked hockey, let alone be a referee. The action is great, with lots of good checking. A player lines up another one beside us, but missed him and sailed over the boards. Oddly there are no seats there and there is a big hole in the floor which drops off to at least 2 stories below. The player plummets downward and lands on his head with a sickening thud. I could tell he was most likely dead. I think how odd it is to have that big hole in the floor there. I'm in no mood for the rest of the game so I leave.

On the Road Again.

I'm again on the road to Ontario from the States. I'm in my little VW Scirocco. My two friends, Dave Johnson and Pete Richter are with me. It is at night. I get tired and let Pete drive while I hop in the back and catch a snooze. I awaken to find Pete going about 170 K/hr with the lights off. I question as to why. He tells me he has the lights off to attract less attention and he is going so fast because he can. We stop for gas and a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant. The restaurant is one of those all you can eat deals that are so popular in the south. We all get huge trays of food and head to a table. We sit down and dig in. Soon more people come in and ask to sit down with us. Of course we say OK. Pretty soon our table is jammed full. We have to take turns leaning forward to eat as we can't all do it at the same time. To add to the confustion the table and chairs are on wheels so we sort of glide around the dining room. I glance around us and see that there are plenty of normal tables empty. But they are roped off. I stop and ask a flunky, who is going by with a mop, why we can't use those tables also; to which he replies that he already mopped over there and didn't want to have to clean up that area again.
I finish and really want to go. I look across the table and I see Dave is finished also. I ask him if he is ready to go and he replies "the sooner the better". We are just waiting for Pete, who comes back shortly. He has an entire turkey on his platter that he promptly digs in to, middle ages style. About an hour later we finally leave. While we waited Dave has drank two bottles of cheap Mississippi wine so he can't drive. Pete promptly falls into a food coma, so I have to drive on in silence.




15 April 10

Hotel Hi-jinks.

My Mom and I go to a hotel for the weekend. She is involved in a craft fair that is being run in the hotel, I am just going along. Our Regimental curling teams are playing in the finals nearby, so I reckon I'll spend my time there. We go to Mom's room first, and it is a very nice one. The room that will hold the craft fair is nearby. I throw my stuff in my room and go to the craft room to check things out. My Mom is in there working on a crafty thing. I tell her I'll see her laters and leave the room. I have to pee real bad so hurry back to my room. Surprisingy the door is open and I hurry in and head for the bathroom. While using the facilities I notice a used bar of soap on the floor, then some wet towels in the tub. I don't see any clean towels. I begin to get angry at the hotel staff, but then realize what the problem is. I'm in the wrong room. I hope I can get out of there unnoticed and open the bathroom door to get out. However there is middle aged couple waiting out side the bathroom. I tell them that I'm sorry I'm in the wrong room, and quickly head out.
I get to my room again and am surprised again to find the door wide open. But there is a cleaning lady in there doing something. I want her to leave quickly so I can undress and shower but she putters around dusting things, etc. She accompanies this with a steady banter of inane conversation. One of the things she tell's me is that the staff use this room for a break room. I notice that the room is pretty big and there are 3 tables and chair set up, along with a big desk along the far wall. She finally leaves and I hop in the shower. Upon exiting, I discover that the staff do indeed use this room for breaks. There are about 8 people in my room. They all appear to be of middle eastern descent. One gets up to lock the door, while another one breaks out hash smoking paraphenalia. Note - this is the second night in a row I dreamt about hashish. Anyway, the get it going and the room, which was full of cigarette smoke, is now full of that smoke too. They offer me a turn, which I decline. Along about then, I notice my dog, Jan lying patiently along side the bed. I decide that this is no place for the dog and leave the room with her.
I don't have her leash, must have left it in the truck. So I grab her collar and head off down the hallway in a crazed bent kneed gait. We come to the elevator, which looks like it was built in the Flintstone era. In an oversized shaft, a platform descends into the depths. There is no where to hang on to, and plenty of room between the platform and the sides to fall down. Although I have little fear of heights in real life, in most dreams I'm terrified of them. An old lady tells me there are no dogs allowed on the elevator. I ask where the stairs are and she points to a door way. I open the door and make my way quickly down the stairs, which are only steps downward with no hand rails either.
I get to the bottom and head through the lobby. I notice something is wrong with Jan. I look at her and all the head on her head is missing. There are bandages over her nostrils, which I remove. There are bandages over her eyes, which I remove. Her eylids have been cut open. I wonder if she has gotten some kind of plastic surgery. It is really gross looking so I put the bandages back on her eyes. I get the leash out of the truck and walk to the curling rink.
Once there I get a drink and settle down to watch the games. I over hear someone talking about going on excercise on Monday. I seems to remember some forms of talk at work about an exercise sometime. I see my officer and ask him what time we have to be in on Monday. He tells me 0500hrs. I tell him I'm not going to be able to go on exercise because of my medical limitations. He tells me he doesn't know anything about my medical conditions. I tell him to go talk to the medics, it's all in my file (hopefully, as I realize then that I've been out of the Army for quite a while).




14 April 10

Drug cheese.

Myself and Dave Clark are at our house in Chalk River. We have a BBQ with the neighbours. The next morning we awaken to find all our basement furniture gone. We try to blame each other but that doesn't really work. We look at the backyard of the neighbours and see all our stuff set up there, just like it was downstairs. Now we really try to blame each other. We look closer and find Mark curled up on a couch. Aha, here is the culprit! We get the hose and wake him up. It takes us hours to get all the stuff back downstairs, leaving us to wonder how a drunken idiot could have accomplished all this in one night. Over a beer, it is acknowledge that it must have been the tree of us involved in the caper.
The next morning I get a drive to work with Dave because I've misplaced my car once again. Only we are not going to work in Pet, we are driving to work in Lahr, Germany. It is our last day there and we will be flying back to Canada. We drive through quaint German towns. We enter a larger city and Dave turns into a large building. We drive down narrow corridors that look like passages in a castle. We pass bars and discos that are packed with beautiful people. There are also restaurants and swimming pools. Dave backs into a dark alley, rolls down his window and sticks a fist full of bills into the darkness. When he pulls his hand in he has a chunk of hash the size of a brick. So this is what this building is all about! He hands it to me to hold onto, and we drive to the exit. Further along the way to the airfield, we go through a tunnel. Traffic is heavy and it is stop and go. At one stop I take a closer look at the hash. It is white in colour and has a black skin on it. Did we buy hash or cheese. I look up and out the window. There is a polizei beside the truck who must stand about 7 feet tall. He even has a machine gun over his shoulder. Thinking fast, I wind down the window and break off a big chunk and say "Kase?"(cheese?)He looks down at it and narrows his eyes. I decide further action is merited so I pop the chunk in my mouth and start chewing. He just looks at me so I swallow the thing. He waves us on. Things start to get a little unfocused shortly. I immensely enjoy the flight and wake up somewhere.





12 April 10

Powers.

I'm once more living at home with the parents and going to high school. I'm getting ready to go to school and my Mom is getting ready to go shopping. To help her out I look out the window and start her car with my mental powers. Unfortunately I'm not really in control of my powers and her car drives out the driveway and takes a right and heads off down the road. So me and Mom get in my VW Scirocco to find her car. We travel up the road and soon a huge canyon blocks our way. I see that someone has gone down it and figure I can too. It's pretty rough going, the other vehicles were probably 4x4 trucks. I watch from high overhead as my little blue car tackles the land. It goes over hills, through rivers and mud and finally makes it to the other side. Then I'm back in the car and resume the search for Mom's car. We stop at a store and meet some friends there. We agree to take them with us. We all squeeze in the car and carry on. We stop for gas and meet some more friends that need a ride. We can't all fit in my little car, so I look across the street at a car dealer's lot and spy a suitable big car. Using my powers, I start up the used Caddy and drive it over to the gas station. We all pile in and off we go. We stop for in a small village and get out at a flea market type of thing. My Mom picks up a few knick knacks and I go to pay the lady for them. I reach in my pocket and pull out some change. Unfortunately they are all German coins. I concentrate and rub a coin, turning it from a 2 mark piece into a loonie. Then I do the same with a 5 mark piece turning it into a toonie. Some 1 mark pieces get turned into American quarters. I pay for the stuff and the lady throws the money into her cash box. As we are leaving I glance in the cash box and notice that the coins are all changing back into mark coins.
We carry on down the road and stop somewhere for lunch. We meet my grandmother there and she needs a ride. She is accompanied by two men who turn out to be real jerks. We need a bigger vehicle. I grab a school bus and we carry on. We have to get grandmother to the home, and then drop off the other friends and then still look for Mom's car. The two jerks want to go in the opposite direction to go to a business meeting. They whine enough that I decide to do something about it. I pull over and turn a 2 seat bicycle into a sports car. They get in eagerly. I pull out with the bus. In the mirror I can see the 2 jerks trying to pedal the bike. I feel very smug..




11 April 10

Course Problems.

I'm on the stupid course again. We have just finished doing section attacks and return to base for some more classroom instruction. I'm handed a large bundle of $ and told to pay everyone their $200 in field pay. I'm assured by the instructor there is exactly the amount required and to just give everyone $200. I start going room to room and hand out the money. When I get near the end, I notice the money is running out and all I have is just bill sized coupons for stuff like pizza and dishsets, etc. This doesn't seem right as most got the $200 but some only get stupid coupons. We get into a classroom and I report this to the instructor. He responds by telling me I should have counted the money first then distributed the money and coupons equally.
The class starts and I can't concentrate. The instructor begins to sound like a Charlie Brown teacher. I can't even think straight to write down the stuff he puts on the board, some kind of very useful stuff for an upcoming test. We take a break and then return for a new class with another instructor. It turns out to be my old friend Al Fuller and it seems he has taken some kind of liquid lunch. He bamboozles on about the subject, then gets sidetracked on some inane subject. The door opens and some visiting nuns from Ireland are shown in to the class. I get them all seats and then find out I have none for myself. A box is found in a corner and I perch on that. Al seemed to be amazed at the sight of nuns in his classroom (as we all are) and asks them a lot of questions. Shortly the nuns are up on their feet and showing a traditional Irish dance. After they are finished, Al asks us if any one of us would like to get up and dance. My old friend, Doug Elliott says sure, and gets up in front of the nuns and commences to do a strip tease dance for them. Al quickly tells him to sit down before any actual clothing comes off.
The class finishes and we get ready to go. I have taken off my shoes and can't find them. A pair of brown shoes are found and I have no other choice to wear them. I hope I can get to the barracks soon with nobody noticing them.




10 April 10

Afghanistan.

I'm on another tour to Afghanistan. We are all gathered in a big structure that kinda looks like a gym on the inside. We are all sleeping on the floor on our air mattresses. Like most of my Afghan dreams I'm amazed the doctors let me go again. We have been there for a couple of months and never went on one patrol "outside the wire". Most of the Infantry are in the same state and are in the gym with us. I discuss with my Sergeant-Major, Donny, about what we are doing here. We are Recconaissance Troops and should be out doing our thing. I also bring up the fact that I'm really out of the Army, and can he check to make sure I'm getting my salary?
I go back to my place on the floor in a mood. Shortly we get the call to pack up all our stuff, both us and the Infantry too. Everyone gets excited and packs up quickly. We line up our stuff along the wall and wait for more info. Shortly our short General enters the gym; who bears an eerie resemblance to the actor Martin Short. We all think this is a good sign. He informs us that he is aware of the low morale and came down from his Headquarters to do something about it. We get a little more excited. Are we finally going to do our jobs? If not, is he going to present us with loads of beer? etc,etc.. NO. He gets us to spread out in the gym and starts doing some stretching exercises with us, followed by circuit training (which involves running around the gym and stopping at different stations to do some kind of exercise, ie, push-ups,etc). Needless to say, morale plumments. Everybody gets into a bad attitude, even us Senior NCO's and junior Officer's, who are supposed to be above that sort of thing (publically anyway).
We are soon lathered up in a good sweat, as were are still in uniform. The General and his dog's body the Battle Group Regimental Sergeant-Major are oblivious to this and think they are doing a great thing for us. To put the cherry on the top of this shit sundae, they bring out cases of warm Molson Excel (.5% beer) afterwards. And then they leave with big grins on their gobs. There we are forcing back the near beer and sweating buckets. The building has only 6 shower heads so it is going to be awhile before we all get a shower (there are hundreds of us). I drag my gear out to my little spot on the floor and set up my sleeping kit. Some of the boys are valiantly trying to force as much Excel into them to get a little drunk. All they end up is getting is bloated. I check on my Troop, then return to my space, set my alarm to 0400hrs (the showers may be free then) put on my headphones, start up my mp3 player that has hours and hours of The Doors music and try to get some sleep. Oh, I also swear that when we get back to Canada and I'm really out of the Army I will bitch slap the General and his RSM (the RSM is from PEI) if I ever meet them.




9 April 10

Political Intrigue.

I'm on a US aircraft carrier steaming away somewhere in some ocean. I'm riding around with the US president, George W Bush. Me and W are driving golf balls into the ocean with Jack Nicklaus. Jack tees up a door knob and breaks his driver. His Caddilac is nearby and we go and put our clubs in the trunk. We seem to be too close to land for such a big ship. I walk up to the front of the carrier, and Jack crosses to the other side of the bow. Suddenly the front of the deck starts to pivot downward, about 30 feet of it. We try to get back on ship but can't make it. I cling to the carpet (?) on the deck until we reach vertical. I glance over in time to see Jack fall into the sea and under the great ship. For some reason I don't fall, maybe due to all the velcro on my clothes. We are still close to shore so I decide to jump off and swim to shore. W meets me there and we start walking up a trail. The trail enters a fenced in area and soon a big dog is after us. A helicopter from the carrier lands nearby and we scamper onboard.
After a short flight we land on top of a snowy mountain. W points out a town below that was attacked by the Germans in WW11. Apparently we are in Russia somewhere. We go to a big steel door mounted in the ice wall of the mountain. W explains that this is the secret Head Quarters of the Russian Military. W enters in some code and the door swings open to reveal a small tunnel. The tunnel is only about 2 feet wide and goes through snow for about 20 feet, then swings upwards. We have to crawl into the tunnel, then upwards to another door. A guard opens the door and we enter the inner sanctum. We find a very modern looking lobby. There is an information desk and a booth selling drinks and snacks and touristy things. We get shown in to a meeting room, where we meet the Russian president and his military chief. There are also several US Army guys there, and I wonder how they got through the tunnel with all their gear. Just as the talks are about to start, 3 more US Army dudes enter the room. They have managed to enter the HQ without authorization all the way to this meeting room. The Russians are very upset with this breach of security. When W asks the Army guys what they think about the security of this place, one of them paws at the ground with his foot, then bellows out a long "HEE-HAW"! Apparently he thinks that some ass was in charge. This, as can be expected, enrages the Russians even more.
I never do find out what we were doing there actually..




8 April 10

My Criminal Life.

I'm at an Army base, waiting until my last day in the Army. I have become quite absent-minded and usually can be found wandering the parking lots looking for my truck. The last day comes and goes without fanfare and I begin my civilian life. I get a small apartement downtown and begin to look for work. I can usually be found wandering aimlessly around town either on foot or on bicycle. I grow my hair and beard very long, and soon end up on street corners begging for change. I soon end up hanging out with a very bad crowd. We sell drugs to make money, supplementing that with robberies and muggings. Several senior citizens have been beaten for the small amount of money in their wallets/purses. We hang out at an old house in the bad side of town. Our leader is a devilish man who has a dark past. He rules with ruthless authority and punishment beatings are often given out. We sell our drugs downtown on street corners or back alleys.
I become a trusted member of the gang and drink with them often. No one seems to notice that I don't take drugs. Parties at our house involve lots of loose women and "Jack Ass" type stunts. During one party, a big crime leader from Montreal attends and discusses business with our leader. He is our supplier for drugs. He wants us to target high schools in our area. Our criminal enterprises are on the grow. One of us can always be found around the high schools. We devise a scheme where we don't actually carry the drugs and the actual exchange occurs elsewhere. That way if we are approached by the police we have nothing on us.
We have a big party on a Saturday, with the crime boss from Montreal and lots of his gang attending. It is around midnight. The usual shenanigans are happening. Young girls clothing has started to fall off. I had just finished drinking a beer mug of someone's urine and cigarette butts and thrown it all up over another's head. Still feeling queasy, I tell my closest friend in the gang I'm going out back to get some fresh air. I wander around the back yard for a few minutes. Then go back to a corner to relieve myself. I jump the low fence and walk through this yard and into the street. I keep my pace slow and deliberate. Down an alley I approach a large dark blue sedan. I hop in the back seat and we swiftly drive away. On the way we pass several police cars heading in the direction of our hangout. The light and sirens are off. This will be happening from all directions, accompanied with SWAT vans. We stop by the barracks where I retrieve a bag of my closest possesions.
Our gang had been under surveillance for a long time. The RCMP needed someone on the inside to verify the gang's activities. The trials last over a year and I'm keep under protection throughout. Since the crime boss from Montreal was also taken on the raid, there is definitely danger present. When the trials are over I will be heading to an undisclosed area to start a new life.

7 April 10

Spy vs Spy.

I'm at a resort somewhere in Europe. I've been here many times over the years. This time my friend Ben is sharing a room with me, and he has been here many times. We get in late in the evening and get ready for bed. I go to the washroom. While in there I notice some papers in the magazine rack. They are in German mostly, but I recognize the signature - Simone. She is the chambermaid that always takes care of my room. I take the paperwork out to my bed. Ben comments on how nice the rooms is. I tell him I've been well taken care of here at the resort. I point out the snowmobile in front of the patio doors and the big screen home theatre system and the fact that the mini-bar is all complimentary for us. He turns off his light and goes to sleep. I prepare to read the papers. I try to get a reading light on by my bed, but end up turning on all the lights. Ben turns to look at me, I say sorry and switch them off. I get a small light on over my bed, but it is too small. I switch another switch and get an adequate one going.
The papers concern an old crime boss from this area. He is rumoured to be a SS officer from the war. He wants to come in, but only with protection from the courts in exchange. And he wants me involved. His partners in crime would rather shoot him than let him get arrested. I turn off the light and go to sleep. Shortly a man enters the room and points a large silenced pistol at my head and shoots. Then he lets a small insect go on my pillow, which immediately scurries and squirms into my ear and proceed to chew its way to my brain. I wake up in a panic, then relief that it was only a dream. Oddly I can smell the faint odour of gunpowder and there is a small spider on the edge of my bed. I kill it and go back to sleep. In the morning I awoke to find Ben already gone. As I head to the bathroom I notice a small red dot on the wall. It is a laser beam coming from a painting in the far wall. Probably the room is wired for sound and video. There is a knock on the door and I open it. It is Simone inquiring if everything is OK. I say yes and she leaves. I enter the bathroom and a sudden feeling of panic comes over me and I go back into the other room. I drop to my knees in sheer panic. I can feel myself being pulled/pushed across the floor towards the door. The door opens and I sail into the hallway. I hope that someone will help me, but several people pass by and give me no notice. Then I recognize the head of security come rushing up to me. But before he gets there I rise up into the air and drift down the hallway away from him. I float up the stairway to the top floor, where I drift through a games room. I'm still in terror and I also can feel my bowels loosen and let go. I spray a huge blast across a pool table and its two players. They yell at me in some language and I can't blame them. I pass through an open vent into the attic.
I settle down in a chair and immediately get tied to it. Around me I recognize some of the high level criminals of this area, who all look like Bond villians. This is definitely a warning to not get involved in this affair. A mean looking tall bastard comes towards me rubbing his knuckles. Just before he gets to me I wake up back in my bed in my room. Ben is gone. I shake my head and try to convince my self that the whole thing was just my imagination running wild. As I get up I notice something in my mouth. I pry it loose with my tongue and spit it into a trash pail. It was like a small seed. I feel another one, then more, then I vomiting up large amounts of them into the pail. Shaken and weak, I lay back down on the bed. I'm just about to pass out when I notice several large beetles marching across the floor towards my bed. They are about the size to coffee mugs and are getting closer. They have two vice-like things in the front and I can see and just now hear them clacking open and shut. Back to the sheer panic stage.. They are just getting to my bed when I start waking up here in my bedroom in Gowan Brae. I drift back and forth between the nightmarish scene and my bedroom. Then both scenes start to merge together and the bugs are in my bedroom. Someone enters the hotel room to inquire what all the racket is about. I point to the bugs but he doesn't see them. In desperation I grab one of the beetles and hold it up for him to see. Then I'm back in my bedroom. My hand is stuck under the covers and I can't get it out. I can feel the beetle suirming in my hand. This goes back and forth and I finally work my hand free in my bedroom and it is empty.
I peel back the covers and hit the shower...




5 April 10

Snow rally.

I'm staying at my parents place and going to high school again. One evening I look out their front window and see a curious event. It is snow heavily. There is a small racetrack in front of the house. About 8 cars are lined up to start a race. About 12 guys are in front of them with snow shovels. Someone fires a gun and the cars start slowly forward. The shovelers begin to frantically shovel. Now the cars are in amongst them and knocking them over. No body seems to get injured seriously. Then the cars are past them and they start digging in earnest. They get about 10 metres done by the time the cars do a lap and are at them again. This carries on until the entire race track is shovelled.




3 April 10

Nothing to report. Curiously I also got up before 8:00 AM.



2 April 10

Army life again.

I'm stuck on that stupic course again. It's the Sunday night before we go out to the field on Monday. Instead of getting a good night's sleep we stay up late drinking beer. I go to the bathroom down the hall and when I get back someone is sleeping in my bed. He tells me is on the course also, but just had to come back to do the field portion. He tells me that the Barrack Warden assigned him my bed. I get out my air mattress and sleep on the floor.
I'm not sure if I actually woke, or it was part of the dream, but I was in bed at home and thought great, it was just another dream. I go back to sleep and wake up in the back of a truck out in the field. Feck! I'm not looking forward to being assessed at leading a troop in the field, because I rarely did anything by the book when I was actually doing it on Ops. Then I find out that I'm only going to be assessing other students. Whew. On the first route recce, I'm not assessing just following a troop as they do thier thing. I'm in a Coyote Recce Vehicle with an old buddy, Steve Janususki. But the turret is completely different than what I remember. Steve tells me to turn of the F-7 box. I put my finger on a switch and glance at him with a "this one" ? expression. He snaps back "No" the F-7 box. I look around again and have no clue where it is. He points it out and I switch it off. As we go down the road I also realize that there are new tactics for a route recce. Overall I don't have a clue what to do. We stop by the road for a break. I see Roger Munger walking around. He is an ex RSM of the RCD. I go up to him and explain what a situation I'm in. I'm really concerned if I get hurt out here, will the Army take care of me? He says "I imagine so", and I tell him I don't care about his imagination; I need a real answer. He tells me he will look into it. I travel the next little bit in the back of an Armoured Personal Carrier, APC, with Roger. I try to find my beret in my back pack. I find 3 other berets but not my own. I check my pockets and find a few more, but no my own.
We stop for lunch and Roger pulls out cases of beer to sell. I'm really confused now about everything. Steve comes over and asks me to help him do some sort of maintenance to his Coyote. I'm not much of a help again.





1 April 10

Book/Movie theme.

This was a dream where I knew how it was going to turn out, like I had read the book beforehand. It involves a white dude befriending a black chick with two little boys. And it occurs in the states, I think probably in the south.
They just happen to meet in a grocery store where she is trying to control the kids and balance food in her cart. He helps her out. And that is that, a innocent meeting has started a mess. He bumps into the young boys, around 8-9 years old, at a gas station on a Friday night. The young boys are coming out of the gas station after buying some sodas, and meet him. He strikes up a conversation and isn't aware how uncomfortable it makes the boys. Over in the corner of the parking lot is the other kids that they hang out with. Mostly older kids; they eye that white man with caution.
The man and chick run into each other many times and soon a budding romance is built. The man picks up the boys one Saturday to go fishing. Keep in mind that I already know what is going to happen; and now I'm in the car with them. He drives to a stream where he thinks there may be fish. After an hour of nothing he decides to head to another spot. He tries to get back on the road but it is very muddy. The only way he can go is to follow a path through a wooded area. I know that the woods are the hanging out spot for the older hate filled kids, 17-18 year olds, but I can't tell the man and just have to go along for the ride. When he gets to the center of the woods the road is blocked and he is surrounded by black angry kids. I'm in the back of his big old convertible with the top down and I start to scared, but hey this is my dream and they won't hurt me as I'm not really there, only tagging along to see the outcome of a novel that I've already read. The black older kids surround the car and want to know why he is here. He explains his situation and that he doesn't want any trouble. Unfortunately these guys have been waiting for trouble all day long. Soon knives are pulled out and many threats levelled to the white man. I'm getting more nervous. The kids show off their knife throwing skills by throwing their knives at nearby trees. By now the guy has had enough and skilfully dis-arms the lot of them. I begin to breath normally again. He collects the kids around them and gives them the what every young man should know speech. When he is finished he calmly gets in the car, the road block is removed and he drives on. He returns the kids to home and then goes home himself.
Now for something completely different. I'm living with the black chick and the kids. (could I have been the white dude all along?) Keith Boire is also living with us and also Jan the dog. I tied up Jan's rope to the back of Keith's truck. He got up early in the morning to go to work and tied Jan's rope to the razor wire fence around our house (Razor wire plays a common role in my dreams, I got caught up in it too many times). The boys go out and untie Jan from the razor wire and tie her up to the open gate beside the house. The gate is to a top secret factory building weapons for the 21st century. When the automatic gate tries to close, Jan's leash wont let it. Soon the local sheriff, keep in mind we are in the US and probably the south, gets a call. He sets up surveillance on our house to see what kind of Red Army Red Rocksuckers we are. He notes that a black chick is living with a white guy. There are two kids living there. And then there is Jan, and while most of the US like dogs, she has a German past that follows her. The two kids leave the house, which is on the edge of town, and head in town to buy some ice cream. The sheriff notes that they choose pistachio and orange pineapple flavors, 2 notorious Commie flavors. The sheriff and his snipers follow the kids back to their front porch, and when they have sat down along with Jan, gives the order to fire..

And as usual I wake up, peel the covers back and hit the shower...




31 Mar 10

Nothing substantial to report today.




30 Mar 10

In Army still.

I'm still in the Army, sort of. It's May of some year and I've been out since last fall, but have been on that darn course in Gagetown for months. I'm back in Petawawa and leave the base to drive home to Chalk River. I'm not in my truck, I sitting on top of the cab, where I've rigged up some device that enables me to drive up top. The road is different than unusual. I come over a hill and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have a check point ahead. I have been drinking so I think I'm safe. It is only now that I realize what a ridiculous site I must be on top of the cab. The OPP are stopping cars, and some of the cars are being directed off to the side to be searched. I have to slow down, but my brakes aren't working from up top too well. Surprisingly they wave me through. I continue north until I come up to some troops marching on the side of the road. When I get closer I see they are Army Cadets, and I think that this is pretty stupid taking those kids out to the highway to march about. Soon I see more cadets doing everything from rock climbing to a live fire dismounted attack (definitely a no-no for the cadets). I pass some more marchers, and then I hear one of the cadet officers yell at another motorists to put his beret on while driving. This starts an argument between everybody and this cadet officer, with everyone purposely taking off their berets to spite her. Oddly, I can hear every conversation from my truck even though it is well behind me.
I get to my house. I discover that there is no furniture there and then remember that I already moved it down to PEI.
The next morning I get a drive in with Ben. This is my best friend who died of cancer in real life but comes back to visit me in my dreams. In the dreams, he fakes his death to get the insurance money and then comes back to life. Everyone knows this, but seem not to care. He is driving an old truck. We get to work and go for a run for physical training (PT). I don't even try to keep up and nobody takes notice. After PT we hang out in an office.
Ben wants to go down town in Pembroke to pick up some sort of car part. We jump in his old truck and off we go. I don't recognize any parts of the town. I notice Ben is driving backwards in reverse through town. He tells me he is trying to roll back his odometer in order to sell the truck. His driving is causing all sorts of mayhem on the busy town's streets. I slink a little lower in the seat.
We get back to base and resume out hanging out. Ben is across the room working on a computer and one of the female clerks goes up to his desk to ask a question. As she is standing beside his chair she reaches around with her right hand to her left side and scrathes her behind. From my angle, It looks like it is Ben is fondling her behind. I get a great laugh out of this and again when I tell him about it. I'm just sitting around because I have no real job. Since the end of the course all I've been doing is helping others to plan and prepare for training. In June I'm supposed to run a course, but I'll be long gone by then. Then I stop to think; what am I doing here? My last paycheck was in Nov, I went on that stupid course and since have hung out at the Regiment. I decide that tomorrow will be my last day. I go outside where my bicycle is and ride it too my truck. I'm not wearing my beret and soon notice the looks I'm getting because of it. When I get to my truck I take my beret out of my thigh pocket. It is a new beret I just bought from the Dollar Store for $1. Now as I think, that was what the female clerk was talking to Ben about. They are hatching a scheme to buy the berets for $1 and sell them to the Regiment for $12. Oh well. I'm just about to put my beret on when I notice that only half of my hat badge is on it. The shiny rear end of the Springbok is all that is left. I decide to ride my bike over to the kit shop and buy a new one. I get there just before it closes only to find that they are not selling anything anymore. You either have to go to Base Supply, or there is a little store in the gym that may have them. I head for the gym as I know that Base Supply would be closed by now.
As I roll down a big hill, I discover that like my truck earlier my brakes don't work very well. I gather more and more speed until near the bottom of the hill I come to a 3 foot drop off. I think that this is going to hurt, but sail over it and land quite softly on the other side. The hill is leveling off and I come to a stop. I turn around and stare up at the uphill climb I will have. I start out and quickly change gears to make the ascent easier. But no matter what gear I'm in, it soon becomes very hard pedaling. To make matters worse a steady stream of big trucks starts rolling down the hill. Although it is a very wide road, the trucks don't even try to get out of my way. So there I am, slugging up the hill and dodging big trucks.
At this moment I wake up and peel back the covers and hit the shower.




29 Mar 10

Student Revolt.

I find myself at a bar. I came after work for a beer with some friends. It's a Friday so there is quite a crowd there. All of us just stopped by before heading home so there is no heavy drinking going on at our table, but there is lot's going on with everybody else.
I get up to go to the bathroom, always an ordeal it seems in my dreams. I have to squeeze through the crowd to get there. At the bar there is a group of young girls getting drunk. As I'm passing the bar I see a very drunk dude arguing with his wife. She wants him to leave with her. He is getting angry. I get to the bathroom and look around for an urinal. There are a row off to my right and I walk towards them. When I get to them I realize they are very small and low; must be for kids. I go to the opposite wall to check out the ones there. They are normal but they are not hooked up to a drain, the pee would just fall on the floor and there was no drain there. I decide to go for a toilet stall. When I get to them I realize they are normal and seem to be hooked up properly. But the stall walls are only waist high, strange. I do my business and head back.
On the way back I notice that the drunk dude's wife has left. He seems to be in a foul mood and stops me as I go by. He starts to go into a rant about wives and such, and I try to leave him. This gets him madder, and he seems to become violent with me. I talk to him some more and he calms down and returns to drinking. As I turn to go back to our table, the crowd starts moving in the opposite direction. Every body seems to want to go to the bathrooms at once. I struggle to stay in position and then see the cause of the commotion. The police have arrived and are taking the young drunk girls into custody and shutting down the bar for serving to minors. One of my friends stream by and says good bye. The crowd is mostly by me, but I want to get to my table to get my jacket. I walk to the table and retrieve it. A young personable looking policeman approaches me. He asks how I'm doing and what I'm going to do now. I respond that it looks like I'll have to go home. He asks if I'm driving and I answer yes. He looks inquisivitely at my and I explain that I only had 2 beers. He puts me in cuffs and it is off to the police station I go.
When we get to the police station he asks me if I want to be part of an experimental interrogation trial. I ponder this, it's Friday night and when I was younger I would have all sorts of hi-jinks in store. But tonight my only plan was to do laundry and watch the hockey game. So I tell him sure. I'm blindfolded and put into a cell.
They proceed to carry out some interrogational techniques on me. Since I've been through some similiar events in training, etc, they have very little effect on me. Plus the fact that I really didn't have any of the info they were searching for. I keep a good attitude throughout everything and enjoyed playing along with them. At around midnight they stop the process, thank me for my participation and drive me back to my truck. Just before we get to the bar I hear on his radio that there is something big going on at another bar and for him to head there after dropping me off. The policeman drops me off by the front door of the bar, which is fine for me because yet again I have no idea where the truck is parked. He peels of and I start my search for my truck. I finally find it parked in behind a bakery 3 doors down from the bar. As I start up, I think about getting home and doing that laundry. Then, and this is also recurring in my dreams, I have no idea where "home" is. I try to think, and all I can come up with are vague notions of all the places I have lived in throughout my life. I decide to go for a little drive and maybe that will jog my memory. As I drive around the city, I come up with nothing. Not only that, I don't know what city I'm in. I contemplate pulling up to a gas station and asking the attendent where I am, but the male chauvinist in me blocks that path. I decide to head out of town, then turn around and hopefully see a city limits sign or something. On the edge of town, I see a big bar surrounded by police cars. I decide to stop and ask the policeman to help me out. I take the next right and park in a Dairy Queen that is behind the bar. As I'm getting out of the truck, I realize that I don't even know the name of the policeman. Then I come to the brilliant decision to check out a phone book! Not only would I find out what city this is, but I may be able to look up my name and find out my home address. There is no phone booth in site so I decide to go in the back door of the bar and look in there.

From here the dream turns into more of a movie type one. It is not me going into the bar, but some young looking dude. The "dream camera" follows him into the bar. He finds a phone book in the kitchen and is in the process of looking up his name, when a young knife wielding dude walks in and grabs him and takes him out front. There is some kind of hostage taking affair going on. Young dudes and girls are armed with knives and bats and such. The young fellow is placed with the rest of the hostages. He listens to the conversations of the hostage takers and gleans that they are students from the local University and are protesting some thing or another. The dream doesn't reveal to me what they are protesting but hints that it is something minor, along the lines of text book prices or the fact that the cafeteria doesn't serve bacon double cheeseburgers anymore.
The young fellow starts talking to one of the hostage takers. He talks sympathetically to him, soon gaining his confidence. The hostage taker takes him to his leader, where he launches into a speech so full of BS that only a University student would consider it to be full of merit. As soon as the young fellow gets their confidence and gets the leadership surrounding him, he launches into action. Before long the entire hostage taking group are disarmed and laying on the floor in some discomfort. He walks calmly to the front door and invites the police in to clean up. There a lot of reporters outside, which he evades and goes to his truck. He starts up and then takes a compass of the seat next to him. He gets out of the truck and moves away from the mass of metal. He takes a bearing to the east, jumps in his truck and heads that way.




28 Mar 10

Trip to the East.

I'm planning a trip down east from Chalk River to PEI. I'm on a bus to Ottawa to catch a flight. I'm talking to two girls who live in Chalk River also, they are headed to Cape Breton. They show me their tickets to fly, and I start to wonder about mine. I open my hand bag and look for them. I have 2 big folders in the bag, and start going through them page by page. I finally find the tickets only to discover that they are for next month, not today. I get the bus driver to stop and let me off, and I hitchhike back to Chalk River.
Now I'm going to drive to PEI. I start out with a friend, George Martin, to drive east in my VW Scirocco. About halfway to Ottawa George turns of the highway and heads north. He explains that this is a shortcut to Ottawa. This makes me wonder as the highway pretty much goes straight to Ottawa. Soon we are going on a gravel road. We come to a place where the road is flooded over. There are other people there too, and they explain that we have to walk up a hill to a building and buy a ticket to go on another road. I trudge up the road still wondering why we got off the highway.
I enter the building and get in the back of a big line of people in front of a counter. I wait in line almost a half an hour to get to the front. There I discover that this was not the line to get tickets, but the line to buy ice cream. I'm pretty mad about wasting a half an hour, but feel better when I buy some tootsi-fruitsi ice cream. I go looking for the proper line. I see a map of the area on the wall. I find out where we turned off the highway, where we are now, and where this new road is. The obvious solution to this problem is to get back on the highway and go from there. I go back down the hill to George and explain to him what we are going to do. He is all pissy because I didn't get him any ice cream. I tell him I'll go get some and then will meet him on the road on the far side of the hill. I trudge up the road again, and arrive just in time to see George pull up to the building. He gets out and before he can explain to me how he got there, I tell him to go into the building and gets his tootsi-frootsi ice cream and I will walk down the far side of the hill. After he gets his ice cream he can pick me up on the road. I get down to the road and start to wait for George. I then realize that he is going to be a while in that line up, so decide to start walking toward the highway. I walk and walk and walk and eventually end up at the highway. At this time I discover that I'm wearing downhill ski boots and skis. I take them off and prop them up against a fence.
Someone pulls off the highway and asks me for directions to get to someone's place. He describes the house and yard by the lake, with a float plane and boat's at a dock. This sounds familiar to me; I think I went there with the neighbours last summer. I look around me, and then point to a road going off to the right and tell the man to try down that road. He goes.
Soon George comes along. I open the hatch of the car and try to get the skis in there and then the boots. I manage to just get them in their and find an old pair of sneakers in the car to put on. I find a pink hat with a long yellow cape like thing on the back. It is obviously a little girl's hat and I put it in the car. I go to the back of the car to close the hatch while George starts up the car. By the way, I have no idea why George is driving my car. After I slam the hatch down, probably bending the ski poles in the process, I see a wallet in a drain on the side of the road. I just manage to get my hand down it to retrieve the wallet. I open the passenger door and show it to George. There doesn't appear to be any money in it and I think maybe it has been stolen than thrown into the drain to get rid of. I find a South Carolina driver's licence for a blond woman. I see some other paper work from South Carolina, and discover an American $20 bill folded up between them. From this I deduct that this wallet probably belongs to the blond woman in the driver's licence who may be from South Carolina, and was probably lost due to their being money in it. I decide to keep it and try and get in contact with the lady later. Just as I'm closing the door, I look down and notice some coins on the ground covered with a fine dusting of,,er..dust. I try to pick them up but can't get a grip on them. I can move them around but can't pick them up. I get frustrated and start swearing at George. He calmly tell me to take off the huge ski mitts I have on off, which I did and easily pick up the coins. There is a loonie and a toonie, 2 dimes, 4 pennies and a nickel. As I'm reaching for the last pennie, George loses patience and hits the gas, causing me to drop the penny. I just get my hand inside before the door slams into it.
When we get to the outskirts of Ottawa, George tells me he knows the best way to get through the city in the shortest time. I tell him if he gets off the highway I'm going to choke him with my ski mitts. We press on down east on the highway..




27 Mar 10

nothing much

26 Mar 10

Squadron Gunnery Warrant Officer (SGWO).

I find myself back in the Army getting ready for a gun camp ( tank range practise). I do my usual preparations to get the gun camp going; order ammo, order targets, order rations, order stores, etc. We head to range. Surprisingly the range is at my parents house. There are no other houses to the right or left, as this will be the firing line. There are also no houses across the street, and this is where I set up the targets. I have set up a field firing range, and placed arc markers at the left and right extremes of the range. All is going well in the set up of the range.
Then I find myself in my parents basement, and there is one of the tanks in there (although how it got in there remains a mystery). It seems that the officers want to see what happens when you fire a tank in a basement. I make sure the crew is ready and mark a target on the wall of the basement. I climb the stairs to take a look outside. 2 things immediately strike me; the driveway and street are full of cars and all my Mom's sister's and niece's are visiting with all their kids. Apparently my Dad is at work. I think it will be better to get everyone out of the house so I ask them all to get out and play in the backyard. They tell me that instead they will go to a neighbours house (yes, all of a sudden the empty field to my parents left has a neighbouring house, flanked with tanks.
I head downstairs and begin to have doubts about this whole affair. I try to understand why we are doing this. What could this possible prove, and also it could be dangerous inside the basement/house for the crew and observers. I bring my concerns to a Lieutenant (Lt), who being a junior officer will not step forward and make a decision. There are no other Officers there. I get up on the turret of the tank and get ready for the shoot. I tell the crew to get ready. A HESH (High Explosive Squash Head, which surprises me as I thought it would be a practise round with no high explosive in it) round is loaded. The gun is aimed and a fire order is ready. Before the Crew Commander (CC) gives the order to fire, I notice there are 2 people in the loader's side of the turret and they are play wrestling. Several times they get behind the breech and once the younger one sits in the bin behind the breech. If the gun fires, the breech will come back at a high rate of knots, and nothing in the human body will slow it down. I yell at the top of my lungs "STILL!", the word we use for everyone to stop what they are doing. I get the other dude out of the loader's side and tell the loader (Derek "Squiggy" MacGuigan, who in real life got out in around 1993)to make sure he stays out of the path of the recoiling parts. I'm having second doubts about firing again. I could dis-obey a command and shut the range down. Which is what I should do because if anything goes wrong, I as the SGWO will get the blame, not the officers. I toss the scenario over in my mind and come to the conclusion that this is not safe and also stupid. Before I shut it all down, a Captain comes down the stairs, Capt Derek Adams who is the Squadron Battle Captain. I tell the crew to not do anything until I get back to them, and get off the tank to talk to Capt Adams. I tell him my concerns and he suggests I phone the Officer Commanding (OC) of the Squandron, Maj Dyrald Cross. I reply that that is probably the best and we go upstairs to phone him (although why the OC is not here on the range is another mystery). I get a hold of base and tell them Maj Cross's local phone number. Of course I get his voice mail and leave a short message. I hang up and am just about to tell Capt Adams that I'm not going to allow the basement shoot when I hear a muffled explosion. Now I should tell you, if a tank fired its main gun in your basement, you will get quite a bit more than a muffled explosion. We look out the front window and the driveway and street is gone, only a deep trench remains. I say the "F" word, FECK, and go downstairs. All is surprisingly quite calm and there is only a foot wide hole in the basement wall. I go up to the CC and ask him what is going on. This guy,Steve, used to be a Corporal in the Regt and play for me on the Regt Volleyball team. He got out and joined the Militia and became a Sgt and somehow found himself commanding a tank in my parents basement. He tells me he was just following my orders to carry on with the shoot after I got off the tank. I look at him unbelievably and ask Derek what where my last words before I got off the tank. He pauses and repeats what Steve said. I'm about to lose my mind on these two! Derek has been a friend since Germany and I've played volleyball with Steve!
I stop everything and try to figure out what to do. A couple of Military Policeman (MPs) show up and start asking questions. Another Capt, who I don't know, shows up and starts asking me questions. I tell him my story. I try to tell him in a normal voice, but I can only whisper or shout as loud as I can. We go outside and look at the crater where the driveway used to be, and the rest of the Squadron's tanks lined up.
We go back to the basement, where the MP's want to question everybody at once. They ask me my version of the events. I explain in a timid squeaky voice with occasional outbursts of explosive rants. Steve then tells them his side of the story. The MPs ask Derek to explain what happened. He is very agitated and pauses momentarily. By now everyone in the Squadron is in the basement observing, and also some other officers from the Regt. Derek paces up and down shaking his head, and then burst forth with " Chris told us not to do anything until he got back, but Steve wanted to shoot anyway. With this he took 3 quick steps to Steve and gave him a punch in the face. Steve fell down and everybody drew in a breath. "I told him we should wait, but Steve was real horny to fire, and then told me to back him up if anything happened" explained Derek. Steve was just getting to his feet when Derek's right hand plomped him squarely on his back again. I go to Derek and say that is enough. The MPs have been taping the whole account. Derek will likely get in trouble for striking a superior, but will probably get off lightly.
Maj Dyrald Cross finally shows up. After being briefed, he tells us that he only thought out loud at a meeting "I wonder what it would be like to fire one of our tanks in a basement?" Apparently one of the junior officer's ran with this, and somehow it became an official task. I wonder what kind of crack brained idiot would come up with this malarkey, and I look toward out Lt's. No one there fit the bill.
And then Ian walked in......



25 Mar 10

Germany/School

I'm living in Germany in an old house. My parents are visiting. I'm hooking up natural gas to a heating stove. I do it myself and don't blow up the place. We pile in the car and go to base for a visit. I get about 2 kms down the road and realize I don't know where the heck I'm going. I drive around the country side and towns until I see a sign for Lahr. We follow it and get to the base area in no time. Unfortunately there is no base anymore, as we pulled out of there in 1993. We go downtown and do some shopping. I'm looking for maple syrup, and having no success.
Flash to a school themed dream. I'm going to high school. I'm living in Gowan Brae so it is quite odd that I'm going to high school when I already did it over 27 years ago. At the end of the day, out teacher tells us he will not be available for first class next morning and we should go to a kindergarten class instead. We aren't taking anything related to kids or teaching, he just thinks it is a good substitute. The next morning I'm on my way to the kindergarten when I realize how silly it is. I decide to just go visit my parents and head to class in time for the second period. While having coffee at my parents, I come to the same old, same old realization that I don't know where my classroom is in the school. I figure I'll just go there and hopefully run into someone in my class and I can ask them where the class is. I get to school and go to my locker, but of course I can't remember where that is either. It's important to know where it is because I signed for some tank tools and if I can't find them to turn in, I will have to pay for them. There are probably over 1000 lockers in the school and I really have no idea where it is, or what number, or the where the key is or what the combination is. I wonder around the school. I take to opening up classrooms for a quick look inside. I try to remember what the teacher looks like but I can't do that either. I wander down long curved hallways that come to dead ends.
I really don't know what to do..



24 Mar 10

Constable Chris.

I'm a policeman in a big city; Toronto maybe. Driving around the city looking for crime. Up and down streets I drive with my partner. The city is quiet today. We drive down by the waterfront. We head back to the police station. I've got some paperwork to do. A man is brought to my desk. Apparently he had been caught with thousands of dollars in his car. He tells me his story. He has done some investments that turnded out big, but didn't want to keep the money in a bank, until now and was on his way to a bank to deposit it. However he is known to be linked with organized crime and we think that the money is dirty. A detective comes to talk to the man. He is the actor that plays Harold in the Red Green show. I go for a coffee. Out in the hallway I bump into my friend Kevin Clark. He is in town visiting relatives and we make plans to get together. I tell I just met Harold!
I go back to my desk. Harold has taken the suspect away. I eat my lunch and drink the coffee, then take a small nap. When I wake up I hear about a high level member of the organized crime being surrounded down by the waterfront. We drive down to the area to join in. The building is stormed and many bad guys go down shooting. I follow the SWAT guys. Finally there is just one room left to clear. The SWAT guys use stun grenades to attack the room. After much shooting, the crime leader is dead. He has been shot many times and is laying on the floor. We are searching the room when the crime leader comes back to life. He charges toward the nearest policeman, who empties his pistol into him. Now we are pretty sure he is dead. We find documents tying the suspect we caught with the crime leader.
All in all a good day, as none of the good guys were hurt.



23 March 10

Movie dream time.

Three criminals move into someone's isolated house to hide low after a bank robbery. The family is kept inside with them, man and wife and 2 kids around 10 years old. They are fairly civilized to the family. The robbers are waiting for a message from somebody to make their next move. A policeman shows up to check on the family. He is apprehended and joins the other hostages. When they get their message to move, the move to kill the cop and family. They bring the father into a room, and proceed to strangle him. But the strangler doesn't have the heart to go through with it. The leader swears at him and tell the other robber to shoot the father and get it over with. But this robber has become attached to the father also it seems. The leader swears some more and goes to shoot the father in the head himself, but also can't do it. They decide to tie everybody up and lock them in the basement with adequate food and water. They will phone somebody when they feel it is ok.
Flash to a detective team searching for the robbers. They are driving around town in a big old convertable with the top down. They leave town and drive through the countryside. They pull of the road and into a small barn/garage with open ends. They are going on stake out to watch the road for something. They park on a cam net, which the male detective pulls up and in front of the car. The female detective doesn't seem impressed at all with having to stay for days in a barn with the dude. He gets out some powerful binos and starts a campstove to make some coffed. He also gets out some army rations. He also brings out some sort of sighting doo-dad which can measure angles. It also has an axe head at the other end, some sort of multi-tool.





22 Mar 10

Classroom.

I'm back in school with the usual cold hearted bitch of a teacher. She despises me and my laid back attitude. I'm terrified of her yet attracted to her. I've missed many of her classes due to lack of interest. I rarely hand in assignments. She teaches some form of economics.
Today is a big test. I have glanced at some notes and scanned through some text books the night before. As usual, what ever I can remember on the subject is the questions on the exam. I quickly fill out the answers and then lean way back in my chair to examine the other students. They range from kids to some my age. I chuckle inwards on the serious looks on their faces.
Thinking back at this dream, it's no wonder I can get all the answers right on test. After all, I'm really the one that makes up the questions right? And my answers are always right as I'm actually in control of the she-wolf teacher.
The teacher (I've never made up a name for her, but it would be something like Mz Ironbritches) glares at me. She asks if I'm having problems with the test. I give her a grin, and get up and casually toss the test on her desk. I give her a toothy grin and a lecherous wink and walk out the door. I swear I can hear daggers hit the door behind me. I walk out to my truck and head down town for a beer.




21 Mar 10

Afghanistan and beyond.

In Afghanistan as a Coyote Troop Warrant Officer. Same old, same old. Out on patrol then an Observation Post (OP) at night. Sentry at night. The desert air is crisp and clean. The stars seem bigger than ever. On the way back to base, the other Coyote gets blown up. Secure area. Casualities. Air medevac. And that is as detailed as I will get here.
Another patrol, and drive over another kid. Don't stop.

Get ready for flight home. Get on jet. This time flying over Pacific to Canada. Land at some small airfield in the middle of nowhere USA. The Rocky mountains are close. We are supposed to change pilots and crew here. Our pilots and crew get out and pile into a waiting van and head out. No we are along. I get out and go up to a building. The door is open and I enter. There is no one there. I head back to jet. The jet is much smaller now, like a private jet. There are 3 of my buddies on board. A staff car shows up and we anticipate the arrival of the new pilots, but it is a duty officer from the nearby base. He does not know what the delay is.

We pass the time playing 2 on 2 football in a field. There is a foot of snow on the field. Just on the field, nowhere else. We go back to the jet as it gets dark. Soon we notice the chill, and I go over to the car and ask if we can sit in there. The duty officer says OK, and I return to the jet. I tell the guys that we will go in shifts to the car, 2 at a time. For some reason I feel the need to guard the jet. I settle in for the next two hours in the jet with Travis Snyder. After about an hour, I get up for a pee. Travis says "becare out there" and I grin back at him. I go to the edge of the tarmac, along side of a field with long weeds. I start to do my thing and his warning echos in my ears. To my left is a dark patch of weeds. Is there something there? Suddenly the dark patch manifests itself into a solid form. Something is there and it is coming for me. I try to yell a warning to Travis but only a high pitched squeak extrudes from my panic stricken voice box. And then I wake up soaked in sweat again.. I must have yelled something because the dog is standing beside the bed looking at me.

I inevitably return to sleep land:

I'm back in the jet with the other 3. It is daylight. We can see dark shapes in the field. I'm all for getting the heck out of there. I begin to say let's go to the staff car when I notice the car is gone. We close the doors to the jet. We have to get out of here..... I reckon the 4 of us can somehow figure out how to fly this sucker. Darren sits in the pilot's seat. He has flown gliders with the Air Cadets. Between us we get it going and out on to the runway. The dark shapes are closing in. Darren pushes the throttles forward and we start off down the runway. I ask him how fast we need to be going to get airborne, to which replied "fast". The end of the runway is coming up. Darren looks calmly over to us and says "well, here goes" and eases the stick back. We ascend gently into the air. I figure the take off and landing will be the hardest things to do, and the middle part easiest. Since we got the take off OK I begin to relax a little.

I tell Darren to head west towards the coast. Soon we are over the Rocky Mountains. I begin to think that the west may have been a mistake, as we could probably crash land fairly safely on the prairies. Looking down at the jagged mountain tops, I begin to worry. Suddenly a light starts flashing and an alarm goes off. We look down at the dial over the flashing light and see symbol of a gas pump and the needle down at the bottom, thereby concluding we were running out of fuel. I ask Darren if he knows how long we have to fly, to which he just shakes his head. Then I found out how long we have as both engines fail.

We are fairly high so we can glide for a bit. Now to find an emergency landing zone (LZ). All we can see are mountain tops and jagged valleys. Nothing looking anywhere close to being reasonable. Then Matt spots a long lake. We quickly go over our options and decide on a water landing. We had already had an unsuccessful search for parachutes so that option was out. We did find life jackets and put them on. We hooked up our seatbelts and put our lives in the hands of our rookie pilot. As we got closer to the lake, we could see a huge house alongside it and a some boats and a float plane tied up to a dock. Things were looking up! Darren brought the jet down into the valley and towards the lake. The trees were coming up fast. We just missed the last of the trees and were over the water. Darren eased it down and we hit the water, bounced up once, and then touched down again. We settle into the water and came to a stop. No time for celebration as we hustle to get the door open. We all got out and swam for the shore. The water was ice cold. We got the shore and layed on the beach catching our breaths. I sat up and looked out at the jet. It was settling into the water. When I looked around to tell the guys I realized with shock that there were only 3 of us. Where was Darren? We looked back out at the jet and there he was standing on the jet. Apparently he had somehow gotten it into his head that he was the Captain and was going down with the ship/jet. We began to yell and scream at him to come into shore, but he just grinned back into us. The jet sank lower and lower. As it eased under the cold waters we began to see less and less of Darren. Torso, Arms then just his head and shoulders. Then he stopped sinking. Of course,, he had on his life jacket. But he didn't swim into shore, he went to the other shore where a steep cliff thrust sky wards. We watched in amazement as he got to it and began to climb. Up and up he went. We could only see him now because he still had on his lifejacket. Soon he got to the top, about 500 metres above the lake. And then we saw him jump. He came down fast and hit the water with a sickening slap. When the water calmed down we could see him floating face down in the water. We just sat and watched in silence.

Soon a search and rescue helicopter settled down near the house. The residents came out to greet them. The rescuers hurried down to the shore, but not towards us. The rescuers were bent over something at the shore. We walked over to see what it could be. As we got closer we could see the mangled bodies of 4 soldiers. I wondered what/how/when did they get there?
Then they were rolled over, but the faces were too battered to recognize. And then I noticed the nametags; Snyder, Ferrie, Edwards and Collier. We could hardly believe what we were seeing, let alone understand it. Then a familiar voice said to us "you didn't think I could really fly that plane, did you?" We turnded and there was Darren. So now we were ghosts.

We began to talk about all the cool things we could do now, a conversation mostly revolving around being able to get into girls dressing rooms, etc. Then we got the biggest kick out of walking through the people around us. I could hear them talking to the house owner about how deep the lake was. They were discussing a salvage operation to get the jet. I decided to see for myself where the jet was and dove into the water. I swam easily out to the center and took a big breath and dove down. Down and down I went. I soon was running out of air and turnded back to the surface. But it was too far away. I couldn't hold my breath any longer and opened my mouth, anticipating a big lungful of water. But it was just like breathing in air. I giggled to myself and turned downward again. The following moments of the dream were animated and was like I was watching on TV. I went down and down until I reached the bottom and no plane. Then I noticed a large trench nearby so I swam for it. As I got to the bottom I noticed it was open on one side to another drop off. I quickly concluded that the depth gauges on boats would report this depth as the bottom, but it was a false reading. I swam lower and lower. Soon ancient buildings came into view and huge skeletons of beast that I could only conclude were of dinosaurs. At the foot of a large building was the jet, broken in two.

When I returned to the top, another helicopter was landing. A high-ranking officer and a Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) got out and were briefed by the young officer already there. After the briefing the CWO looked over to us and asked "What about this lot?" I realized he could see us! I quickly brought my finger to my lips and said "Sshh, we are part of the movie deal." He gave us a quick wink and turned to follow the officer. We decided to settle into the background in case more folks showed up who could see us. We concentrated and floated up into the air and started moving away from the scene. We got carried away again, and settled down on a mountain top about 5 kms from the scene. I announced that this was too far to see any detail and I only meant to back up to the treeline next to the house. We took to the air again and tried to return. But this time we could not control our flight and soon landed in a deep valley. We would have to walk up and down several valleys to get back to the scene. Matt wondered aloud that since we could walk through people, why can't we walk through rock? We tried this unsuccessfully and concluded that there was much to learn about this business of being a ghost.

I got to the last mountain top before the lake and decided to try flying again. I rose up and started to fly to the lake, with a smug feeling over me. But then I found out I couldn't stop and couldn't descend. I slammed into the cliff opposite the house and clung on. Forgetting that I was a ghost (and could just let go and drop into the lake) I began to climb down the cliff. I soon came to a small hole in the mountain, about 6 inched wide. I wondered if anything was living in it, when this giant beak emerged and started pecking my forehead. I could stand in no longer and let go off the wall. I was accelerating down towards the lake when I awoke again, and again with Jan looking at me with puzzlement in her eyes. I peeled back the covers and hit the shower.




20 Mar 10

Road trip.
I'm back in Chalk River and planning a road trip out west with my neighbour Mickey. We get together to organize and plan everything out weeks before the event. The night before we have a last minute co-ord meeting. Everything is set. We plan to set out at 06:00 the next morning. Then we have a few wee whiskies. I wake up on the floor in their living room at about 10:00. Mickey is snoring on the couch. I try to get up and wake him, but have little energy. I decide that a nap is called for.
I wake up at around 11:00 and wake Mickey up. He gets activated and I go next door to get my stuff. I haven't packed yet, but shouldn't take long. I open up my closet and discover there are no clothes on the hangars or shelves. Everything is on the floor and dirty. I conclude that I have to do a quick warsh of some clothes. Eventually I make it back to Mickey's. It seems he had to warsh some clothes also. He is arguing with Cheryl about whether a pair of jeans are dry enough to pack. She tells him to put them back in the dryer, but Mickey says there is no time left.
We go to the truck to put our stuff in the back. I go to the passenger door to get in, expecting Mickey to be getting in behind the wheel. But he has the hose in his hand, explaining he has to warsh the truck before we go.
All in all, it's a fine example of organized dis-organization. We eventually get off at around 16:00. We drive to the far side of Deep River and check into a hotel for the night.




19 Mar 10

Stupid course in Gagetown again.
Much to my dismay, the course is not over. Curiously more scenes in the shower room. Waiting in line for a showerhead to discover that when one came free, I was still fully clothed and then taking an inordinate amount of time to undress. Hard to find soap, etc in my shaving kit. Shaving my face and afterwards still having a full beard. Trying to get ready to go in a short time.
We are going to a rifle range this week. All of us have very little idea of what we are going to do there, is it just a range practise for us or will we have to organize and control it. My friend Shawn Mercer and I prepare plans on Sunday to organize and run the range, just in case. Having no direction from the instructors, we prepare for numerous options.
Before we get to the range we go to a strange obstacle course which is run by a very attractive chick. I can't remember all the obstacles, but there are similiar to a video game like Mario Bros, where you have to jump and spin around. Most of us have very little patience and try to bull our way through the obstacles, to no success.
Then on to the range, but before a stop at Petersville Camp for lunch. I search through my kit and can't find my plate, cup and KFS. Having prided myself on always being ready for anything, this infuriates me. Instead of asking for some replacements, I grab a carton of milk and a small pack of cookies and sit at the back of the mess with a snarl on my face.
Then on to the range. I go through another infuriating search for my ear defenders and binos. I'm really starting to lose it. Then the instructors come over and dump everything on us students. We have questions like where is the ammo, where are the targets and what kind of practise will we be running today? They answer us - didn't you order the ammo, didn't you liase with range control about the targets and didn't you go online to get the firing practises? Then they leave us alone. We talk it out; half of us want to press on as best we can and half want to go back to the hot chick at the obstacle course.
I wonder again why I'm here. I've been out of the Army for 5 months, have been on this course forever, I'm not getting paid, I don't have the proper kit,,etc. I make a promise to myself to never set foot on an Army base again. Just then a fat instructor comes over and starts giving me a hard time about my beard. I tell him I had a chit for it but when I got out of the Army I threw it away. In reality I never had a chit for it, just grew it when I got out as some sort of rebellious message against standardization and good order. I explain this all to fatso, and he asks me again why I have the beard. I'm in the process of getting my razor out of my kit to stick in this fat bastard's eye when I wake up. Jan gives me a puzzled look, I get up and leave the blankets upside down to dry off and hit the shower. Tree, I'm beginning to get annoyed with this dream...




18 Mar 10

Nothing much is standing out as a dream. Glimpse of scenes with no foundation.


17 Mar 10

Germany.
I'm back in the army, and in Germany. We have a full brigade group over there again in Lahr. I'm in the duty room chatting with some folks. A few of my old friends are there. People come and go, and I get tired of telling them the same story of why I got out. I'm in a troop with Dan Stearns again. There is an O group (a kind of meeting) and I'm picked to go represent my troop. I mildley complain, as it's my first day there. Luckily Dan shows up and takes over for me.
I'm waiting in a room with the rest of the troop. I know a few of them, and the Troop Officer is Francis Conliffe whom I put through training in Gagetown. A mechanic I know pops in and gives me a big knife that he made for some reason. It's all black and comes in a sheath. I show it to the guys.
Dan comes in and passes on the O group. We are going to the field in a couple of weeks, ensure all maintenance is done, etc, etc,. He also announces there is a brigade group parade at 1500 hrs. Ben Aubin and I had come to Germany a couple of years back to do something and had witnessed a battle group parade. Every unit in the battle group will be on parade, initially spread out around the ring road in the North Marg. The first unit will start going around the ring road, picking up each unit as the go. Most units wearing traditionas ceremonial dress. It's a practise that the general picked up while serving with the British.
I come back in my dress green uniform. I go for a walk around the Marg looking for my Squadron (sqn). I figure they would be wearing the scarlet uniforms so I think that they will be easy to find. But it is not. There are several scarlet wearing units in the brigade, as well as every other colour. And it seems it is an International brigade, with units from a lot of countries. From Scottish kilts, to Swiss guards, to Cossack cavalry, to Persion units, to African Tribal units and everything in between. I can't find them but find another Sqn that points me in the opposite direction. I cut straight across the Marg to look for them.
All of a sudden a cannon blast erupts. The units start to move. But it is not as I had witnessed. No orderly march around the ring road picking up units. They all head straight for the middle of the Marg and then swerve around in confusing circles to avoid bumping into other units. And there are several mechanized units in tanks, APC and wheeled vehicles. Soon all units are crisscrossing the Marg in a terrible speed, the foot units at a dead run. I run from unit to unit looking for my sqn. I have to join various units formations to avoid getting trampled. I then see and join in at the end of my sqn.
I'm with them for only a short time, as a sharp right turn feeds me into a grey dressed German units going the opposite way. As I can't get into the ranks of any unit, always joining at one end, I transfer from unit to unit. All the units have gotten charged up and are getting fanatical. There are explosions and smoke bombs going off everywhere. Swords and lances and various other edged weapons are getting close to stabbing each other.
Then it happens: a horseman gets to close to an APC approacing from his left. The track clips the horse's leg and both rider and horse goes down. The rider's head falls in front of the track and is plastered to the concrete. A large greasy, bloody circle with shards of bone is all that is left. I think that that will put a stop to this madness, but it doesn't. pretty soon I see other getting stabbed and trammpled under foot. Darkness soon falls and flares light up the scene in eerie wobbling light. I join up with my sqn once again. We find a huge pile of beer boxes next to one building and surround it. Now the fight is on big time. We fight off other units looking to get the beer. An air raid siren starts going off and all the light in the Marg go on. This is the end of the parade I'm told. Dawn is lighting up the eastern horizon. We leave guards and head to our weapon lock ups to hand in our weapons.
I pass by mayhem on the way, with numerous still bodies and our Brigade medical units helping hundreds of wounded. This was not the immpressive orderly Brigade parade me and Ben had seen. I had not met the general but wondered what kind of psychopath he was. I decided there and then to put my release in as soon as possible and get away from this madness. While in the line up, I notice the knife in its scabbord on my belt. I pull it out and it is covered with blood: and wondered who the normal people were in this madness...




16 Mar 10

Back in Chalk River.
I go back to Chalk River for a visit with my parents and Dave Clark also shows up. For some reason we are staying in my old house, maybe Doug is overseas. We do the usual stuff. Late one morning we wake up to find the house full of people. It seems that Jamie Sampson's (Jamie is one of the guys that I rented my house to while in Gagetown 1997-2000) family have come up for a visit too. They range in age from 1-91. We moved into Cheryl's basement. I have left my truck at Billy Selkirk, so I go over to get it. I take Jan and tie her up to a little toy wagon so she can tow me over. All the kids want to go for a ride also, so they jump on the wagon with me, or just follow along. We get to the highway and Jan's leash breaks. She goes running to the highway with 4 or 5 kids in pursuit. I'm yelling at them to stop buy they keep running. In a small miracle they don't get run over. I get the truck and return with all the kids in the back, Jan in front.
Much partying follows. We run out of burgers, so Dave takes the filet of the palm of my right hand. It hurts a little, but Dave tells me not to worry, it will grow back in a couple of days. Mickey stays in a grumpy mood all day.
Flash to the front of my grandparets place in Charlottetown on Jordan Crescent. Me and Bob Van Horne are sleeping on the lawn in 2 normal beds. Why we are there, I don't know. We seem to be waiting for some reason. I sleep on and off, then get up to go for a pee in the back yard. There is an immaculate garden in the back and I go to the back fence to pee. I just get started and a panic sets in. It feels good to pee, but something doesn't feel right. I panic and fret and fuss and then I wake up. I immediately feel the bed to see if I actually peed in bed. Everything was dry, so I went downstairs for a pee.



15 Mar 10

Beans.
My Dad is up helping me out with some stuff around the plade in Gowan Brae. While we are working some dude drives up in a pick up truck and begins to look at the back of the garage. I go over to him and ask him what's up. He says he's here to put in a garage door at the back of the garage. I'm puzzled because I did not order one. I ask him who hired him and he mumbled something or other. Me and Dad go back to working on a garden. Shortly the dude comes around and asks me if I want to go with him and gets some "beams". I guess he needs the beams to support the door. He says my Dad is going with him also. We jump in his truck and the dogs jump in the back. Apparently now I have two dogs, Jan and a twin looking feller. He says he lives nearby. He takes a short cut through a field. The area is much more hillier than normal. We get to his place and he and Dad go behind his barn. I wonder what is up, and go around the far side of the barn. I walk through a good looking garden wondering how the plants are in this condition this early of the season. Around back Dad and the dude have big handfuls of yellow beans. Ah, beans not beams. I grab some and we get back in the truck, after spending 5 minutes rounding up the dogs. We return through the shortcut. There corn and other vegatables growing in the field and long rows of purple tulips. We pass some apple trees and they are full of red apples. Strawberries, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes; this wonderful field had it all. We get back and I'm very keen to fill my 4'x 6' garden with just such a harvest.



14 Mar 10

Gagetown on same stupid course. The course is stupid because I have already taken courses on the same stuff this course is teaching. Rather redundant, eh? This re-occuring dream is hopefully coming to a close, as each one seems to be nearing the end of the course. This one is the last day:
The last day! Whew! We wake up on a Friday morning after a night spent sleeping on a hangar floor. We pack up our stuff. Strangely we get to wear civies that day. I dress and pack my car up, which is in the hangar also and is the VW Scirocco. I get everything packed up, then realize I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt, not the wisest dress for a Senior NCO. I root through my belongings until I find a pair of slacks and a button shirt.
Me and a friend jump in an Army Humvee to drive to J-7, the huge building that houses the combat schools in Gagetown. I wonder why we are in a Humvee, as our Army doesn't have any. There is some construction along the way and we have to take a detour. From the detour route my friend decides to take a short cut. The short cut turns out to be a small track through the woods and then into a big muddy field. We can see J-7 on the far side of it. He bravely takes off into the quagmire, but about halfway across he runs over a stake and the right rear tire is flat. We get out in the mud, put on our rainsuits and overboots and go about changing the tire. We can't find all the tools at first. Another Humvee pulls up with some fellow students. With thier help, we get the tire changed. I watch as the Humvee attemps a tight turn on a small hill and rolls over and then back onto it's wheels. As it speeds off, I notice the front wheels have been replaced with wide skis. The other one follows it. For some unknown reason six of us have been left behind, all in mud covered rainsuits and over boots. We have 15 minutes to get to the Armoured School, which at the far end of J-7
So off we go! We slip and slide through the mud on our way to J-7. We enter the far end of it. We will have to go through the Infantry School and the Artillery School to get to ours, a trip I've taken many times when I was posted there. We get in and I soon notice that a lot of changes have taken place. The building is much bigger than before. It used to have two long hallways that ran the length of the building, but now is a maze of shorter hallways. We get through the Infantry School and discover a huge shopping mall has been built in the building. There are lots of possible paths through it and stairs and escalator and elevators everywhere. We press on, the dirty half dozen of us, sweating buckets because of the rain gear. Of course the mall is full of people. All of a sudden we come to the end of the building; where did the Armour School go? I look out a window and we have followed the course of a brand new wing and have to backtrack to get to the main wing. We are now late. We get going on the main wing. We see a sign and an arrow for the Armoured School and then come to a fork. There are no signs so we take the right. It ends in a locked door. We figure it is the back of a store, because we can see some stuff over the low wall the door is on. My friend, Glen Toneguzzo jumps up and steals a sleeping bag and then acts if he is a world renowned cat burglar and has just made off with the crown jewels. We get back on our way. We see another sign and follow it. We finally get to the school, but the hallways turns directly into the Commanding Officer's (CO) offices. A Sargeant Major tells us we will have to go to another entrance. We are very late now. We backtrack a little and try again. We see some more signs and then run into Rick, a fellow WO and one of our instructors. He says everything is OK and points us to a small bar where the rest of the students are. The CO will address us there shortly. We haul ourselves to the bar and take off our muddy raingear. Of course we are soaked inside them, as they are not breathable. I notice that most of my friends were actually on the course. It's 7:55 in the morning and they are all drinking beers. Sometimes I really enjoyed the army. It seems all we have to do today is get the CO's address and then wait around to sign course reports, which could take all day. Just outside the bar, some lunatic in a colourful outfit beckons for one of to come out to him. It appears he is some sort of magician. He takes this fellow hand and wraps a wire around his index finger and then stands back and throws a switch. His finger quickly turns black and smokes. Within seconds his finger locks like a piece of shrivelled burnt wood. He turns off the switch and unwraps the wire. His finger turns quickly back to normal. He asks for another volunteer and like an idiot I go out. He wraps the wire around the back of my hand and throws the switch. I watch in horror as hand turns black. There is no pain, but I scream like a little girl. My fingers are quickly reduced to black little branches and then start to fall off. I scream like a slightly littler girl. The magician throws the switch and unwraps the wire, and my hand quickly turns back to normal. The entire class has witness this and is having a great time. I sit back down with my friends Dean Jones and Kevin Mathers. Toneguzzo comes around wearing a ghastly sweater that was obviously bought by his now ex-wife. We are pretty pissed by the time the CO shows up. He goes on and on about the new course. He then asks for questions. I have a good one; I understand that there were Officers and Snr NCO's on the course to provide feedback, but to whom is this new course to be given to,ie, at what rank. I raise my hand and he picks me. I try to ask the question, but only whispers and small sqeaks come out of my mouth. Again mighty laughter explodes from everyone. I sit back down and hold back tears. The CO goes on for a bit more and then asks me a question. I go "What?" as I have no idea what he is going on about. He asks another friend, Brian Talty, a question, to which he says what also. It seems some kind of joke had been schemed up by the Officers, but as often, they forgot to tell the NCO's. The CO leaves and we go back to drinking. Soon we start getting called in to sign course reports, which should last a couple of hours still. Kevin asks me if I driving home to PEI afterwards. I tell him I'll be in no shape to drive and will be spending the night here somewhere. He tells me I can stay at his house. We continue to drink and talk. One of my friends wonders aloud who came first in the course. Another tells him he doesn't think anyone will top it, as it really is a nothing course for us, probably just pass/fail. And since I missed so many weeks of the field exercise I'm sure I didn't.
I notice I have something sticking to the inside of my cheek. I reach in and pull it out. It is like a piece of gum with a bit stuck farther down my throat. I pull and pull at it, but can't get to the end. I then have to repeat the process on the other side. Then my mouth feels like it is filling up with small bits of stuff and I have to start scooping them out. They are the size and shape of small dried beans. I can feel them in my throat with my hand, and then can also feel them through the skin on the back of my neck. I get very tired and soon slide off my barstool on to the floor. I think that my friends will pick me up but they don't. So sleepy, just want to close my eyes. And as I close my eyes in the dream - I open them in real life. I'm soaked with sweat but happy the dream may be over. The stuff being in my mouth, which is another re-occuring dream probably won't, but I hope the stupid course one is over..



13 Mar 10

Petawawa again.
For some reason the Toronto Blue Jays are playing in Pet. One of their young players has a rough game. He goes to see the manager after the game. The manager tells him he is going back down to the minors. The young feller tells the manager about how he knows of some under handed business the manager is doing; namely betting on the team. They reach an understanding.
The next morning the young player is found dead in a squash court. One of our Regimental Policemen (RP) found the body. Here's where I come in. I'm some sort of investigator, and try to piece it all together. I'm just about to retire. I suspect the player was killed by our RSM, Jim Brown and our 2i/c, Major Zaprozan. They were seen in the vicinity. I concentrate my efforts on these two. I follow the two suspects around and dig up some dirt on them. I'm positive they are guilty of various doings-on and schemes. I'm not so sure they are guilty of murder.
Eventually I turn to the RP. I uncover a connection between him and the dead ball player. Me and another investigator go to his room to question him. He appears nervous and agitated. It's decided to search his room. I take him outside the room while it is getting searched. My partner tells me to bring him back in. He has discovered a young Asian girl tied up under his bed. I put the cuffs on the RP. Further searching turns up the murder weapon, a baseball bat. When ever I turn my back to the RP, he tries to make a run for it. I catch him and drag him back to the room.
I take the RP out to my car. A big Cadillac with dark windows is parked nearby. The rear window opens. The RSM and the 2 i/c are in the backseat. They nod to me, and then the car takes off.



12 Mar 10

I woke up in the middle of last night after a good dream. I even jotted down some words on a piece of paper. "Magic golf tape kidnappers" is what I wrote, but the golf was scribbled over. Unfortunately I can't remember it now, even with the note's. But I do remember this one:

Exercise in Russia.

We are in Germany, and our tank Squadron gets picked to go on an exercise in Russia. Nowadays this would not seem like much of a big deal, but this was back in the '80s when the Cold War was still on. We load up on a train and take a 2 day trip to old Mother Russia. We unload in the middle of nowhere and spend the night in a woodline. We have a couple of days until the exercise and a trip to the closest town is organized. There is a Gypsy market there, maybe we can find some knick-knacks to buy.

The busride is long and I soon relax and take my boots and socks off. Finally we come to a town. The building are exactly what you would expect to see in '80s Russian; grey run down buildings with visible damages from World War 2. We stop near a river, and out Russian tour guy tells us we are at the Gypsy Fish Market. Fish Market? Three guys get on the bus with various sized live fish. They don't look like any fish I've seen. Well they soon leave, as who is going to buy a live fish that looks like a cross between a lizard and a beaver? The Russian guide tells us we will go on a drive around the town and then to the Russian Army base, as it seems now that the Officer's need to go there for orders. He tells the Russian driver to go, and with a bang and a boom we are off. On the drive, I see a small German flag in a window on the third floor of an apartment building. I point it out and say "That guy has got a lot of courage flying that flag here in a bombed out Russian town". We also see a Canada flag further down the block. Next thing we know we are outside of town driving through the countryside. We see some fields and orchards and some small farming posts. We turn back to go to town and the base. We are driving down a small lane beside a river. The lane gets closer and closer to the river. Soon the lane is half blocked by a burnt out bus. The driver tries to get around it, but gets caught up on the other bus. He reverses and we all think he is going to find another way to the base. But he is soon going forward around the bus. Oddly I'm now viewing the scene from above now. The bus completely sinks in the river, but keeps on going underwater back to the bank. The bus tries to get up to the lane, but stops and flops over to its right side. Everyone gets out OK; I wonder how come I didn't notice before that the bus was open topped.

The tour guide is on the radio for help, then tells us that a nearby building has a pub in it. We start trudging towards it, with me bringing up the rear as I'm in bare feet. By the time I get there most of the guys have bought some colas and are hanging up their wet clothes to dry. I buy a beer for 1 US dollar and gets some coins back for change. We soon get bored and go for a walk. Along the river we find some old trenches and some old machine guns and ammo and stuff. They appear to be German. We are amazed that this stuff is still there, and everyone collects a few pieces for souvenirs. It's a bright sunny day now, and everyone is enjoying themselves.

I make it back to the bus, which now has been towed out of the mud and find my socks and boots and put them on. On the way back I notice some strange birds are out by the guys. I concentrate on one, pointing to it. I point my finger towards one of the guys and the bird attacks him, giving him playful beek bites to his back. I play this game for a while, until I discover I'm one of the birds. I fly gracefully around but soon lose control and then find myself on the top of a high crane overlooking everyone. Another bus pulls up by the pub, and someone shouts to get on it. I launch myself into the air and slowly glide down towards the bus. Half way I'm passed by some of the other guys, who are hot dogging it down to the bus. They are some of our Special Forces dudes, and apparently can half fly. I land softly and get on the bus, back in the appearance as a soldier.



11 Mar 10

Bowling madness.
I'm at my parents place in PEI. I am going to a bowling tournament and my cousing Michelle is picking me up. She arrives and I jump in her Ford Ranger. En route I lose my ball cap out the window. We go back and get it. The bowling alley is a mall. We enter the mall. We go down a hallway with stores on both sides. It is packed with people. I meet an old friend, Randy Payne. We stop at a store so Michelle can talk to her husband. We have a lot of time before the bowling so we stop at a used bookstore. We separate and I look at some books. They have a pretty good war books section. I find some German unit histories/ war diaries. I wonder where they got them. I notice there is some change beside a book. I pocket it. Then I notice more and more change on the bookshelves. Before I take it, Michelle comes along and explains it is store policy to leave change when you take a book. It's so homeless people can come to the store and pick up enough change to have something to eat. I shake my head and go on. I soon find some Royal Canadian Dragoon (RCD) books. I eagerly look through them to see if I'm mentioned in any. I notice I'm a bit chilly,and then notice I'm not wearing my shirt. I look around for it but can't find it. There are some other shirts laying around. Michelle comes by and explains that you are supposed to trade your shirt for another one, so the homeless can have some clean shirts. I pick the cleanest looking shirt laying under the book shelves and put it on. I can't find Michelle and have somehow lost my watch (probably another homeless scheme). I walk to the bowling alley and ask the time. I'm still very early for the tourney, but I can pay my entrance fee now. I pay and they glue a happy face sticker to the end of my index finger. I return to the bookstore. I begin to feel strange. Everything I touch seems to move suddenly. I gently push a wheeled bookcase and it goes the length of the store. I try to get it back into position, but I can't control it. This is very frustrating. I'm sweating alot, but find it cold. I have no shirt again, so I grab another. I leave the store and stop by a little table outside it. There is an elderly lady selling coins. Finding coins in my dreams is not unusual. She has some strange coins, even some RCD ones. I pick some up. I'm really starting to feel bad and have started to shake. I go back to the bowling alley and try to get in, but I don't have the smiley face thing. They direct me to a door outside the alley, and tell me to go in there to try to sort it out. I enter and go down some stairs. I enter a large room with bookshelves on the outside walls, and more shelves and bleachers running down the middle. I'm laying on my stomach and discover I can move about the room just by thinking of it. I can move very fast. I start to go in betweeen the books. I see a kid and try to catch him but he is too fast. I see a girl who is gliding around, almost like she's skating. I try to catch her but she is fast also. I try and try. I then try to ambush her from a hiding point. On the third try I catch her. We talk and she gives me some pills to swallow. I begin to feel better, and as much as I like to stay and talk to the girl, I leave her and go up the stairs. The stairs are now scary, with large open spaces I have to jump. I get up the stairs and enter the bowling alley. They stop me and I show them the smiley face on my index finger. They let me go in. It turns out that this is an outdoors bowling alley. I find Michelle on the far right of the lanes. She is down by the pins with 3 other girls, including the chick from the basement. The five pins are upright, and they have wires controlling them so they could be stood up after throws. 3 guy are down at the end throwing balls. The girls are putting the pins up after every throw. The are other targets too. Small coils of barbed wire. I join in with the guys and start throwing too. The girls trade places with us and they start throwing. They hit every target. Soon the girls win and we sit down and talk, me with the basement chick. She seems to know a lot about me.



10 Mar 10

Nothing solid in last night's dreams. A lot of random stuff.
I'm in Chalk River drinking with Mark and Mike Moore. Mark does something to get the local gangsters mad at him (stole a bottle of whiskey, maybe?) The word is out on the street that their muscle man is out to put a beating on Mark. Mark is scared and tries to hide from him. The muscle man shows up at my house. He says he knows that Mark is there. I tell him that I didn't think so. He goes down to the basement and drags Mark out of the crawl space. He lays a good beating on him and breaks some fingers. I'm just sitting at the bar watching. Then the muscle man sits across the bar from me. He inquires about being in the Army. I tell him some stories. He tells me he respects me for what I've experienced. I get out 3 beers for us, and we drink and talk while I'm taking care of Mark's fingers and staunching a pretty big cut over his right eye. He leaves and I look at Mark and say "well, have you learned something from all this"?




9 Mar 10

In the Army and trying to play hockey. This is an old dream. I practise with my Regimental team to try to get better. I don't get a lot better but I'm full of energy so decide to practise with the base team. 99 % of the base hockey team is in Afghanistan, so they agree to keep me on the team. I'm the small right winger with an attitude... However, I continuously screw up and lose games for the Petawawa team. After a very disturbing game when the goalie takes off his mask to reveal a turban, I decide that the combination of my bad hockey skills and the profileration of Arabs doesn't suit me, I quit.. I leave the rink, into a huge parking lot.. I try to find my vehicle, which is either the GMC Canyon truck or a Dodge Stratus.... I walk around the parking lot, and find my truck in a huge snowbank... I put my hockey stuff in the back and attempt to back out. But it is stuck.... I can't get it out. I decide to walk back to work, It is in the morning after all, and get a friend to tow my truck out... I walk up the road from the Canex to the north Marg, as I'm now not only a member of the Petewawa base hockey team, I'm now with the Lahr base hockey team. I feel special, but noone picks me up to take me to the North Marg.... I walk past the south Marg with no reaction. When I get to the Center Marg, it seems that the RCR has taken over. I have to go under an underpass, pass by a RCR Statue, and continue on my way... As I'm leaving the thing, an RCR female soldier gives me shit for passing by such a thing.. I like the RCRs so I let it pass...
After getting by them.... I fall back into my flying moments... I drift up and towards the north marg. I can control the elevation and the direction of my flight.. Except I'm not in Lahr any more, I'm in Pet... I'm floating over the road to the training area... I try to control my flight, but I can no longer do it. The wind pushed me to a defensive position. I know what is comeing, and I try to cancel all thought.. I drift into the razor wire... I understand that I have cheated the system by saying I was a hockey player... The razor wire digs deeper.. I can't stand much more pain....... Let me wake up and feel shame.... that doesn't work... I'm wrapped up in concertina and the the Japenese arrive, they want to kill us and I'm looking forward to it.......... I get stabbed with a bayonet and it is not the quick kill I am yearning for. I collapse and fade into blackness... And I thought I was a good hockey player..
He


8 Mar 10

Back in the Army on the same stupid course in Gagetown.

Monday morning of the last week of the course, 0645hrs. I wake up and go into a mild panic. The truck to take us to the field is going to be here at 0730 and I'm not ready. I grab my shaving kit and head to the bathroom. There are several other guys there. I put my shaving kit down and go for a pee. In horror I realize that I'm peeing on a chair in the middle of the room. Oddly enough, nobody seems to care. I rinse off the chair and dry it with paper towels. I take a quick shower. I get ready to shave. I lather up and then look for my razor. When I find it, I discover it is one of those new fangled multi-bladed ones. I proceed to shave, which hurts a lot and pretty soon I'm bleeding from several cuts. Someone comes in and hands me a cell phone. The person on the phone is Sgt something or other and he tells me he has a copy of a posting message for me. I tell him I'm already out of the Army and am only doing this stupid course because I couldn't get out of it. He tells me that the Army took a second look at my case and decided to keep me in and post me to a desk job in the US. I ask where? Mrytle Beach he says. I gasp! Can it be true, what a peach of a deal.
Then he says no, not Mrytle Beach, but Mrytleville a small town in Northern Maine. I say thanks and hang up. I finish up and return to my room. It is now 0715 and I have 15 mins to get my shit together. My fellow students help me out. It seems that all my kit is separated into about 4 different lockers along with some stuff from other guys who are on an Engineering course. We decide to take everything and sort it out later. A friend says he has heard about the posting, somehow. I tell him I'm not even in the Army anymore. I point out that I'm not wearing a CadPat uniform, but the older uniform. I have no sleeping bag, no coat, no raingear, no boots. By the time I finally get outside the truck has already gone with my kit. I look around. Oh well, I get in my truck and drive home to Gowan Brae.



6 Mar 10

Back in the Army in Germany

I show up for Pt at 07:00hrs. PT starts at 07:30, so instead of waiting I go on a vigourous 2 km run. After all I do have a bad neck/back and all. I hit the showers. While undressing 2 of our female troopers enter. I try to talk both of them to join me in the shower. They contemplate, then leave. As I shower, I wonder why I'm here. I can't do PT, can't go on exercise, can't even be exposed to weapons or ammo or explosives. I then remember that I've been out of the Army for quite some time and have been living off my saving for months. I decide that I'll call it quits today. Long about then I realize that I still have my T shirt on. I try to take it off but it appears to have shrunk and is difficult to take off. I give up and just soap it up. I'm in the change room cutting off my T shirt when my friend Shawn Mercer shows up. I explain to him my situation. He is surprised. We agree to go out for supper that night to celebrate. Some time throughout the day, I bump into my friend Dave Corney and he says he'll meet us at the restaurant. I get to the restaurant first. The only table available is in a small alcove next to the kitchen. Actually the door to the kitchen is in the alcove. Dave and Shawn show up eventually. They are dressed in flip flops and bathrobes. I go to say something but then realize I'm wearing short shorts and a tube top. I also have my army helmet on my head. I take the helmet off and lay it on the bench beside me. The other guys have gotten rid of the table and are in a corner around a coffee table kind of thing. I have a small table on wheels. My helmet is back on. I take it off. The waitress comes and takes our orders. My helmet is back on. I take it off. The soups come out for the others. I wait pariently for my snail soup. My helmet is back on. I take it off. They are just finishing their soup when mine comes out. I take a small spoonful and taste it. It is great. I look down at the bowl and their is hardly any left. I grumble something about portion sizes, and then notice that there is a hole in the side of the bowl near the bottom. I show it to the girl and she takes it back to the kitchen. My helmet is back on. I take it off. My helmet is back on, so I take it off and hold it on the bench. My helmet is back on and I'm still holding the one on the bench. I give up taking the damn thing off. The boys main meal comes out along with my soup. It is cold but I enjoy it. The boys are finished with their meal as the girl comes out to take their dishes and my soup bowl. They start giving me looks like they want to get out of here tonight. I smile weakly and feign idiotness. Ta-da, my meal comes out. The girl lays down and empty tray and begins to decorate it with flowers, little piles of pickles, sauces, and icing. In one corner she plants a big candy frog in a big pile of icing. She puts down a plate, puts some kind of meat on it followed by some veggies. It looks terrific! I stretch out my legs, which causes the little table to move (remember it's on wheels) and bump into the waitress and the tray falls upside down on the floor. She boys have had enough and so have I. She says she will get another dish made up and deliver it to the shacks. We all leave in separate cars to the same location. My Scirocco is in a small rut and I pick it up and out of the rut. I sqeeze into it and start to drive to the shacks. When I come to the first red light I try to step on the brake. I can hardly reach it, and then have to mash it to the floor to slow down. I come to a complete stop with the assistance of the hand brake. I have to repeat this step all the way to the shack. I get in the shack and go up to my second floor room. The waitress is already there. She offers to set it up the same fancy way, to which I tip her graciously and ship her out the door. My two female roommates are there (remember way back to the shower scene.. yep the same two). I leer at them and invite them to dig in.



5 Mar 10

I'm in school. This time the rest of the students are my age. My Friend Bob Van Hoorn is in it. In a history class. An old teacher is teaching us history. He looks like he just retired his post at the Kremlin. We are discussing some ancient battle at some town. Half way through the class he unviels a huge box. It is a model of the battle of the town (some assemble required). The entire class is excited, well except me. We go out on the school lawn to build the thing. It is huge, it will cover about 10 square metres. So we set up the little buildings, roads, hills, streams, defensive works, etc. I pay little attention to it. They get it finished and start the reenactment. Little cannons on the plain outside of town begin the battle by firing into the town. And I mean actual firing and actual small explosions in the city. I'm intrigued. The little explosions become louder. It is about then that I realize we are being bombed by airplanes. Russian airplanes. It seems the school has been evacuated and the staff and students are on the lawn, where most are promptly blown up. Soon parachutes are seen as Russian Airborne troops start landing. They proceed to shoot anyone living. I have a small wound in my right leg but am relatively OK. I lie on the ground like I'm dead as out of the corner of my eye I see the troops shooting the wounded. One is coming close to me. I feel a sneeze coming on! Closer he comes, bigger the sneeze builds. I sneeze. He turns to me, and everything goes black.
I awaken in the back of an airplane. There are about 8 other students in there, Bob included. No one knows what is going on. A look out the window shows a snow covered landscape. We must be in Russia. What are their plans for us, we can only guess. The cabin door opens and some tough looking dude comes out. He tells us to just stay calm and we will be OK. He goes back into the cabin. Well, we were fairly calm up to that point, but now a mild panic sets in. We feel the plane nose down and the engines slow. We land at an isolated airfield. The creature from the Red lagoon opens the cabin door and tells us this is a re-fueling stop and closes the door. Shortly after that, the rear door opens and 2 Canadian soldiers jump on and head toward the cabin. They enter the cabin and shooting ensues. One Canadian soldier is the only survivor. It is none other than my friend, Scot Mason. I tell him way to go, but I didn't know you could fly a plane, since I figured the best way to go home was in the plane. He tells us he can't fly the plane (I figure the cabin is too shot up anyway) but we will go back to Canada the way he got here - by snowmobile. We hook the plane up to his snowmobile and he begins to tow us to Canada.
We go over all sorts of landscape and even through some small towns. Word must be out to look out for a snowmobile towing a small plane because in one town the residents open fire at us. We have some weapons from the dead Russians, and return fire. I have a rifle, but the barrel is all wobbly, like it was made out of rubber. I have to bend the barrel in order to line up the sights. I fire. I've shot Bob in the ass, I put down the rifle.
We eventually make it to the mountains that separate Russia from Canada. We have to follow a mountain pass, and there is a Russian Camp on the route. We stop out side the camp, and Scot comes in. We ask him what his plan is to get through the camp. He announces to the rest that I speak a little Russian and am going to put on a Russian uniform and talk out way through the checkpoint. I put on the uniform and walk toward the camp. I tell the guards that I would like to see the Camp Commandant. They bring me to his office. His secretary explains to me that he can't see me for another hour and a half, and recommends I go to the movie theatre until then. I go there and settle in to watch "Every which way but loose" with Clint and that funny ape. I notice my Dad is sitting next to me and constantly asking me "what did he say", which is annoying everyone around us. I wonder how we are going to get out of this one. Then I wake up.



4 Mar 10

Back in the Army on the same stupid course. Wake up on a Sat not really knowing where I am. It slowly comes back to me that I'm on course in Gagetown and I am in the barracks. Someone pops in and we talk about last night. We had just got out of the field and went directly to the Mess. From there we moved the party to someone's house. Someone sober had taken us in my car. Yes the car, not my truck. It seems a Dodge Stratus keeps popping up in my dreams. But it is far from my "dream car".
So I try to sort out my stuff, gotta do laundry etc. My friend Dave Clark shows up with his son, Alan. We play a baseball video game where he slaughters me, because he has not told me how the controller really works. I ask him if he knows where my car is. He says yes, he was at the party last night. He then gets real serious and tells me I was an embarressment at the party. Oh well, not the first time and probably not the last. He tells me he is going to find Alan and go to his car. I'm still in uniform, so I think I should put on something else. I put on shorts and a t-shirt and get ready to go. But alas, I still have combat boots on. I take them off, which seems very difficult. I then look for other footwear. In short, everything I find has only one of them; one shoe, one sneaker, one kind of other runner, a slipper, and one flip-flop. I look at my watch to see how long I've been taken. My watch is cracked and doesn't work. Another thing I will have to sort out. Luckily Dave comes to my door with venom in his eyes and asks what is going on. I put on one combat boot and one flip-flop and follow him out to his car.



3 Mar 10

Back in the Army. I'm back in Gagetown, this time not on course. I'm officially out of the Army but somehow end up helping with a course. I'm out on a tank range to assist the staff on how to properly run a range. Things start out OK as I assist a young Officer. We go down range to look at the targets and set up the arcs, etc. This is usually done beforehand but whatever. This is the oddest tank range I've ever seen. There is a triange shaped woods in the middle of the arcs about 500 metres downrange. There are several deep ravines and hills on it. There are several targets out of arcs. We sort out some kind of mad plan. I realize then that I've forgotten my backpack with my notes, ear defenders, etc back where the trucks are parked. I go back to get it, only to find that when I get there it has been on my back the whole time. While back there I get tasked to take one of the 4 tanks forward to the firing pad. While driving up I notice one of the other tanks has the barrel pointed down instead of up. If he hits a deep enough hole he will sink the barrel into the dirt. I try to call him on the radio to no avail. I also notice that the commander and loader don't have helmets on, just berets. And no headsets to listen to the radio or talk to the driver. The other 3 tanks take a wrong turn that, although it will take them to the firing pad, is the long way to it. I pull up on the firing pad on the far right. The others eventually arrive and pull in beside me. The tank with the gun down and no headsets pulls into the far left, but too far left and it slides off the firing pad. Apparently the driver thinks the best way to get back on the pad is to go forward and then circle the pad. He goes forward and has to cross a trench with a 4 foot step up to the far side. To my surprise the gun elevates. He gets into this and almost over the far side when the tank slides back. Apparently the lower side in made of rubber because the tank bounces off it and propels itself skyward. It bounces once and then hurtles over the edge of a ravine. I say to my driver "well, those 4 are done for" and send a message to range control. We run to the edge of the ravine just in time to see the tank take a big rolling bounce over a river at the bottom. During this flip over the stream the 4 crewman are ejected and land into the shell of a house being built. They land flopping around like rag dowlls. 2 of them bounce off and land into the river. The workers building the house hurry to assist them. Why a house is being built downrange is a mystery.
I look at the young officer and say "Well, I believe we hav gotten off to a bit of a rough start."


2 Mar 10

I'm back in Afghanistan with my Coyote patrol hidden in a small village at nighttime. We are watching a crossroads about a km away for any signs of Taliban activites, which seems unlikely as they look like everyone else. We get word on the radio to pack up and move to another location. I tell the crew to stow the surveillance gear while I go down to a local's house to say goodbye and assure him we will be back if the Taliban come to his village. I spend about 20 minutes there and return to the Patrol. When I get there the surv gear is still up and everyone is asleep. I take a small tantrum and wake everyone up. We get the gear stowed up and get ready to move. I have to back out to get on a street. I am on the ground and my driver is up and looking at me. I give him the sign to reverse and then immediately give him the sign to stop which he ignores and continues to reverse into the car that has just stopped behind us. I take a slightly larger tantrum. As I'm giving the driver an accident report which he can take to local police to get actioned, an explosion bursts on the out skirts of the village. And then another on closer, followed by another one closer. We are under mortar attack, and the best thing for us and the locals is to get out of town, which we do.
Flash back to base and I'm trying to park my Coyote and have a similiar experience backing up as I had in the village. I manage to keep my cool. I get the patrol to do maintenance and resupply while I go to Headquarters (HQ) to finish my patrol report and debrief. I return about 90 minutes later to find my whole patrol stretched out around the 2 Coyotes and asleep. I take a tantrum and start yelling at them. Or at least I try to yell, all that is coming out is small whimpering noises.
My dream then went through a series of occasions where I loose control of my patrols actions. Then I start throwing up without warning, and by the gallon. I don't know where it is all coming from. All this continues until our doctor tells me I may have a serious illness. He shows me a movie about a 10 year old with the same syptoms and signs. I am put on medication and released from the CF.
Flash to somewhere I'm living and the local Legion. I'm dressed shabbily and need a shower. I get a beer and sit by myself pretending not to notice the strange looks I'm getting. I finish my beer and get up to leave but notice a new video game. I try it out. In it you launch a large ball into a town and it bounces through buildings and whatnot destroying everything in its path. You can control the direction of bounce by a joystick. The video screens morphs to a real life game and I'm destroying a small town and racking up bonuses like hitting the post office and schools. The ball eventually comes to a stop, but I've made enough points to get another ball. I launch it into town and have a go at the daycare center and the hospital. I eventually run out of balls, but where ever the ball bounced on the grass a huge mushroom thrusts its way upward. I get a large bag and start to harvest the mushrooms.

And that, thankfully, is where it ended.



26 Feb 10

Back in the Army again. And on the same stupid course. This one was learning how to drive a LSVW, which is a small truck. Somehow we would drive our truck and also control another truck that was ahead of us. The other truck would get farther ahead and we would lose it as it went around corners or over hills. Somehow it managed to stay on the road. We stopped for a break, and I was talking to fellow student, my friend Danny Hoyt. We talked about a paper we had to have in the following week on economics. For some reason we had a class on economics at the start of the course where some guru babbled on for 35 minutes, then gave us a big book on economics and the assignment to have a 5000 word paper handed in later on in the course. The book was filled with mumbo jumbo and had lots of charts and graphs in it. I asked Danny if he had his done, which he stated that he had finished it last weekend. I told him I had a rough copy of it and would just have to type it out, make some minor changes and print it off. I opened my bag and took the book out along with a notebook overflowing with handouts. I search in the notebook for my report. I found it and it was only one page of double spaced blatherings about economics. I had to somehow turn this into a 5000 word professional looking paper! Luckily it was Friday so I had the weekend to work on it. I planned to go to my house in Gowan Brae for the weekend. When I thought about my home, I realized that somehow when I was there, I was not on this stupid course or even in the Army. I had out thought the dream; suddenly realizing that is was just a stupid dream I was having. I mentioned this to Danny and he just gave me a strange look. I guess he didn't know.


25 Feb 10

A golf dream. Me and Dad and 2 uncles, Billy and Alan, are out golfing. Everything starts normally. Then things take a turn for the worst, for me that is. I can't find the right club, can't find a tee, am out of balls,etc. The holes get harder and harder. At one tee, the ground is covered with plywood so I can't get a tee in. The next the tee box is only 3 feet wide. I begin to lose clubs. I can't hit the ball at all. I'm getting majorly frustrated and pissed off, while the other 3 are having a great round of golf. We have to climb up a big hill to get to one tee, and then slide down afterwards. Just before I get ready to tee up a ball, I drop the ball which then rolls off the tee into the forest where it takes me several minutes to fine it, all with another group waiting to tee off after us. We started out in 2 power carts, now we are on 3 on one, with me being towed along behind in a little trailer with various pieces of lumber, most with nails in them. I finish the last hole with one club, one ball, and a half of a tee. On the drive to the pro shop Billy crashes the cart through a fence into the side off the pro shop. I come to with bruises and pieces of lumber hammered into me. My rage intensifies and I walk home.

Flash to an Army setting. It seems we are running some sort of 10 km race through an office buildiing. There are stands every km where you have to do so kind of test. I arrive still in a rage over the golf incident. I try to convince them that I'm not even in the Army anymore, but I get forced to go. The first stand in in a room with small long boxes attached to the ceiling. You have to somehow reach the boxes, open them and do some sort of leadership action with whatever you get from the box(s). I get to the room, put a chair on a table and try to reach the boxes. I can't even reach them to get to do whatever I am supposed to do with them. Some arrogant bastard who is running the stand says "Well, what are you going to do?" Renenber that I'm tired and pissed off after the golf debacle, I quickly go through the options in my head. I come to a decision and tell the bastard to go feck himself and carry on. This, for the most part, is repeated at each stand as I circle around the building and go up and down stairs. Word of what I've done has reached the final stand and an even more arrogant bastard tries to tell me I have to start over and complete all stands on the way. He gets the feck you option also. I try to leave the building but all the doors are locked. So I go to a room with bunk beds and lie down on the floor under one and go to sleep.

I flash to a log house on the side of a big hill. The slope is gradual from the home for about 100 metres and then steepens sharply for the rest of the way. In fact you have to go down a long ladder to get to the bottom. I walk close to the edge and feel the drop off pulling me over. I lie down but still feel myself being pulled to the drop off. With every ounce of strength I get up and move away from the edge. This is a recurring dream, where situations vary, but always with a feeling of being pulled to a drop off. Some are Army ones, in various locations. Always a struggle to keep the drop off from pulling me over.

Well that's the three I remember the most for today!





24 Feb 10

Movie style dream. A girl wakes up from a coma to find her world has changed. Her fiance has apparently done something to put her in a coma, and another dude is now her boyfriend. They live in a huge house that is somewhat similiar to my old house in Chalk River. She is being kept inside the house by the other dude and an accomplice for her "safety". She begins to think something is not right and plots her escape. She escapes and finds her way to the local Sheriff. He brings her back to the house, as he is in on the plot. The dude plans a vacation for them, and they fly away in a biplane to a far off town, where she will know nobody. The plane crashes next to a ball field. They are ok, but the plane needs major repairs. They are taken to a farm where they can stay until the plane is done. Enter the old boyfriend, played by Micheal J Fox. He has somehow tracked them down. He enters the farmyard but is caught by the accomplice and proceed to fight in the pig pen. The accomplice wins after holding down Mike's head under the mud, poop and slop. But he is not dead and later confronts the 3 of them. He has proof that he is innocent. A big fight follows which is stopped by the police, who have come to check up on the flight crew. Mike proves to the police that the other two are bad and they are taken away. A happy ending.
Flash back to thier house and everything is good, Mike has settled into his old life of novel writing, which includes lots of nothing. They decide to sell the house and me and my bud Greg buy it. We then discover it is huge, with 6 bathrooms, 12 bedrooms and its own mini mall and food court. I wonder about my little house in Gowan Brae.
I go to the mall to buy a new tv. While looking at a tv I notice that a famous NBC female news reporter is sending out a message to Dragoon43A, who is me, to contact her about an email I apparently sent her. I first think that I probably sent out a drunken rant to her. Then she goes on to say it is about some weapons dealing in Bosnia. And then shows a suspect who looks like the stereotypical cold war Soviet spy. They report he always wears shoes with red soles. I'm joined by my friend Donny and we walk around the mall. Then we see a man who looks like the suspect! On closer inspection he is wearing red soled shoes. We stalk him around the mall until he leaves and gets into an old Mercedes in the parking lot. Luckily Donny's truck is nearby, a huge Dodge 4x4. We proceed to follow him out onto a road. Suddenly the suspect turns into a vacant lot and then pulls back out going the opposite direction. Donny doesn't turn into the lot but proceeds forward. He doesn't want the suspect to see us following. We turn aroundabout a mile down the road while I wonder how we are going to find him again.But find him we do! He sees us and tries to lose us. We crash into someone's garage. Apparently that is the end of me, as only Donny comes out of the fiery crash. And he is not Donny anymore, but Seinfeld's Kramer. He is still on fire when another old Mercedes, with 3 men in it, pulls up and motion for Kramer to get in. He does. They drive on. They brief him on the situation, they are CIA. Kramer is still on fire and they proceed to beat the fire out. Back to the old suspect; he goes down by the docks and enters an old factory. He is going to his emergency pick up spot to come in. He takes a dimly lit stairway down to the basement, where he is nabbed by CIA agents. Apparently the whole spy ring has been discovered.




23 Feb 10

Another dream where I'm back in the Army; sort of. I'm on the same course as usual and going to the tank range. I notice that I only have sneakers on, and that I have no rain gear. The truck ride out takes us through small German type villages. It is still dark out and our lights don't work. We are speeding and stray off the street in one and run over a bicycle. Then our brakes fail but we still keep going. We are eventually blocked by a river that is flooded. Flash back to garrison (Gagetown) and I'm sorting out my gear and getting ready to quit the course as I've been officially out of the Army for 6 months (and not been paid at all). Some of the guys are talking about getting out also, and I tell them my story. I recall my little house by Souris. One of the guys from the truck is also there and he questions why? I tell him he doesn't really get it at all, that we are still in the truck. I have lots of kit to pick up at the barracks before leaving.

I'm riding a horse near where the truck has stopped. I'm just barely in control as it gallops along. I ride into a small Mexican village and get off the horse. It seems that just about everything is against the law here, but just about anything is offered in the small shops. I accidently drop a small piece of paper and then have to race back to pick it up before a policeman picks it up, explaining that it was all a mistake. I meet an American girl in a shop and she takes me to her home.