Too Much But Nothing At All

At the moment, I'm not entirely sure whether there's lots going on or nothing much at all... Some things may or may not be happening around me. I have paid my share of the service charge, based on an agreement from the landlord that the roof refit will go ahead once all the leaseholders have paid. A couple of guys came round to reposition the 'temporary fix' tarpaulin that has been up on the roof over my flat for about a year, and yet the rain over the last few days has been positively gushing into the bathroom, and was also dripping profusely in the hall at the weekend. I've had another interview with an employment agency, and they have disappointed me all over again (the rep this time hadn't even bothered to read my CV beyond my previous job titles, yet she claims to 'represent' one of the biggest names in Publishing). There was talk of a job that I might be put forward for... but it was supposed to be starting tomorrow, and I didn't get the call. I popped in on a job fair in Harrow's Civic Centre and, while I found nothing to interest me, as such, it was buzzing and full of opportunities geared more toward school leavers than experienced, skilled workers. I've had someone in to quote on replacing my ailing boiler, and they'll be adding several improvements (thermostatic radiator valves and a heated towel rail) into the bargain. I've got all kinds of sketching and writing to do for myself, but rarely find the inclination to do so... That said, I've got one sketch virtually finished and ready for inking... so if I don't get a call about the job tomorrow, I really must try to finish it!

Then, on top of all that, I learned this evening that a sort-of friend of the family (a local personality, my sister went to school with his daughter) died a couple of months ago, after a fall in his back garden. He was an endlessly cheery fellow, always happy to stop for a chat... I hadn't bumped into him in ages, but he will be sorely missed by a great many people, I suspect.

But in spite of all that, I feel as if I'm in a weird little bubble, separated from the world outside... Perhaps that's just a sign that I should, I dunno, go for a walk once in a while?

My girlfriend mentioned recently that she'd had a dream in which she became the assistant on Doctor Who and I confessed that, despite having watched the show since I was a nipper (my folks being big Sci-Fi fans), I can't remember ever having a Doctor Who dream (perhaps I should search this blog for evidence before making such sweeping statements). I spoke too soon, however... I had a Doctor Who dream the very next night... and it went a little bit like this:

It was a kind of 'The x Doctors'-type special, though I'm not sure all his incarnations were covered. Smith and Tennant were there, and David Bradley was there representing William Hartnell (but dressed like a very flamboyant Goth, with some kind of feathered or furred ends to his skin-tight, velvety trousers). There was some kind of TV interview as part of the dream, too, as I remember Tennent speaking about how Peter Davison had insisted on playing his Doctor rather than ceding the role to a younger actor, as some of the others had... Hence Jon Pertwee's Doctor was played by his son (AWESOME!) and most of the others I just couldn't recognise... Though John Hurt's version was in there somewhere, I'm sure. The main difficulty was that all of them were dressed pretty much in the fashion of John Hurt's Doctor, so they weren't identifiable by their costumes, and I didn't see enough of their mannerisms to guess which was which. Mind you, the long scarf gave away the 'Tom Baker' version.

There was also an antagonist - most likely the Master - delivering a monologue (with David Bradley's Doctor and his assistant (SUSAN?! My God, this story is epic!), on the opposite side of a rocky lake (read: old quarry with lots of rainwater in a huge puddle) walking away from their TARDIS to meet up with the other Doctors) about how 'reliable' the Doctor always is... Can't remember the details, but he was another one dressed in Gothish attire... possibly with an old-fashioned military spin? Maybe even Steampunk, but black rather than brown... Whatever, he had long, black hair and no goatee. Shocking.

The story seemed to be something like this: Villain of the Piece was doing some kind of genetic research in a massive base on an alien planet with ginormous raging beasts wandering outside. He had a menagerie of past 'successes' who were essentially mermaid-type creatures, and a few basic, terrestrial sharks (or so they seemed). He also had airborne 'seeker' creatures - little more than flying shark heads, only they were genetically modified versions of local animals, so they didn't look exactly like shark heads - who he would send out to rip 'samples' out of the indigenous life. Literally, these things would fly after something, bite their way inside, bite out the particular organ their master wanted, then fly it back to him.

There was also a bunch of eight or so 'orphans'... Kids of about 8-12 who were being genetically modified by the VotP, and who were beginning to look a bit shark-like. VotP's paraplegic daughter was acting as their teacher, though this was probably tolerated rather than encouraged by her father. At the start of one lesson, one of the younger girls in the group started talking about how having grown up without parents meant that they didn't have much of a moral framework "other than...", at which point she clammed up and cast a quick look in the direction of the oldest boy in the group, who'd clearly set himself up as 'alpha'. He asked how the teacher would feel if he said she'd "become boring", then demonstrated what he did with things he considered boring, by somehow releasing one of the 'mermaids', then one of the 'sharks' into the wide pool overlooked by the classroom.

Cut to the group of Doctors arriving at the VotP's base, easily unlocking the door with one Sonic Screwdriver or another, but bickering amongst themselves as to whose was the most efficient (or something). They hear a scream and a splash, and dash off in the direction of the observation ports surrounding the pool at ground level. 'Pertwee' spies a couple of entry points, instructing one of the other Doctors (Tennant? 'Colin Baker'?) to dash down one tunnel while he goes through the other "and we'll see who gets there first." The other Doctors (and a selection of assistants) dash off upstairs in search of an overlook.

About all I remember after that was that the 'other' Doctors reached the kids' room but found it empty apart from a wheelchair, while 'Pertwee' and whoever went with him had to fend off shark(s) with their sonic screwdrivers until the 'other' Doctors could recall the shark(s) to their pens. I don't think the paraplegic woman was dead... More likely she'd been dragged off by the kids, who had decided to escape the base, and figured she'd have a higher level of access than they did. What I remember of the wheelchair suggests that the only thing that fell into the pool was the control panel/portable computer she used.

It's always a shame to have to leave a dream incomplete and it's very rare that I'm granted a 'continuation' (unless it's a zombie dream!), but I'm very keen to see what happens next...

In other news, I recently forced myself to go to a newly-opened branch of Morrisons in Harrow... and now I'm thinking I might forgo my local shops except in emergencies, and do a proper weekly shop there. Well, there or the Wembley branch of Asda, which seems better-stocked (and cheaper) that the nearest larger Tesco or Sainsbury's. Waitrose may be good, but they're far too expensive for me right now.

The biggest - and strangest - news, though, is that I've actually bought a cellphone for the first time. The one I'd been using for the last few years was a gift/millstone from my boss in my last job - she'd upgraded, and gave her old one to me rather than trade it in (since I had to be on call at all times for certain aspects of my job back then), and it was still working fine... it had just started to fall apart. The upgrade is the same make and isn't massive change... it just has a full (yet dinky) QWERY keyboard, making texting a lot more efficient, and a rather more intricate user interface.