I was having this dream. In the dream, Thor was underwater. As is typical of my dreams, I can recall much of it in great detail- and in color. And for the record, no, it wasn't really that Thor: it wasn't the Norse demi-god or the Marvel© superhero of movies, comics, or larger format monochrome comics. No, it was a Norse dude, though, who possessed some sort of super powers, but here's the scene: his dad and family (along with his Dad's once-best-friend-who-is-now-his-worst-enemy) are all underwater, chained at the ankles with their hands bound behind them by an unknown super villain. My dream's hero, Thor, somehow is not chained or bound, apparently as he is estranged from his family but not allied with the other family. So, as the dream (sequence) opens, I see Thor regarding this scene. The other thing that makes me understand that this is not the "real" Thor is that there are two mighty hammers. For some strange reason (hey, this IS a dream, and I'm really not making up any of it), there are two mighty iron-headed hammers with oaken handles wrapped in strips of leather, and they are suspended underwater, floating heads-up and held by the base of the handle by the same iron chains that bind the other folks that Thor sees. He knows the only way to make things right with his father and to reclaim his "Thor-ness" is to grab one hammer in each hand, and get them spinning at a furious speed, and then bring the two spinning hammers into contact, which will free everyone. Of course, physics still apply underwater, so getting these two beast-like hammers to spin at all requires a Herculean Effort on Thor's part. But, he's whatever/whoever he is in my dream, and he rises to the task. He grasps the leather strap handles and begins to spin, and as the RPMs increase, he starts to sweat (underwater!). "MUST... INCREASE... SPEED!," he says in superhero-speak.
(That was probably my longest blog paragraph ever!) I need to take a brief pause here to talk about superhero-speak. I googled the phrase, and I think I may have actually coined it, but the actual concept of superhero-speak is well-known among both comic book and screenplay writers. In English (at least- I'm sure many other languages rely on a similar formula), superhero-speak is evoked when the protagonist (and/or often the antagonist) of a story is faced with a scenario in which they can save their life, or do what is best (or most evil, in the case of the antagonist). In addition to the (usually quite easily resolved moral dilemma), there is the forementioned Herculean Effort required to complete the task which will save (doom) all of Mankind. Because of this effort, the hero can only gasp out the most important words, and generally only three words.
The first word is an auxiliary verb which is probably the first thing on the superhero's oxygen-deprived mind- generally, something along the lines of MUST or CAN'T. Capitalization is vital (it is in English- the entire three word sequence MUST be capitalized! and end with an exclamation!). The next word is a transitive (action) verb, and describes what the superhero needs to accomplish. The last word is a noun, which can be singular, plural or collective. So, true superhero-speak is something like, "MUST... INCREASE... ENERGY", and not, "MUST EAT DONUTS."
So, "Thor" finally got the hammers rotating at tremendous RPMs, and then brought them together; the shockwave shattered the chains and caused the bindings to wilt, and everyone floated to the surface and was safe....
And this is when I woke up. At 0300.
Sleeping arrangements for me are generally something of almost a compromise. Jennifer and I have been married for twenty-seven years, and we both snore. Not a big deal- after that many years, allowances are made. The previous weekend threw me for a loop, though.
One of my coworkers is off on a leave of absence which will last approximately through Christmas. In this time, everyone will need to pick up a bit of the "slack" caused by this absence.
... and this is where everything really started, as my "normal" sleep cycle was completely thrown off the past weekend... the end of Daylight Savings Time.
In the United States, clocks get pushed back an hour ("Spring Ahead, Fall Behind), except that thanks to the "well meaning" US Congress, there is no logic to base the resetting of clocks.
And so here I sit, penning a blog at stupid-thirty because I can't sleep, hoping someone will read it.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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