Batch

11-10-2013 -- Driving in an area that is a cross between Downtown Orlando and I-5 in California. It is one of the dreams in the busy freeways / construction zones category that I often have. I was heading north for a few minutes, approaching Downtown Orlando, then turned around and found myself heading South, just to find I was on I-5, approaching the Anaheim Plaza exit. There is a train track running parallel to the freeway, and I am somehow pointing out places where the tracks would switch, and theorizing on how the switchings would affect freeway traffic. (Since they are parallel, but unconnected, in real life it would have no effect, but this is a dream, after all.)

I wave to a cop on the freeway shoulder who is a friend, and am listening to Z88.3 on the radio. Soon I continue on the road, and I-5 has turned back into I-4, and then (as I am still heading south and I-4 runs more east/west) find myself on the Turnpike, instead. I am heading far south, though I am not sure if I am doing mystery shopping or delivery work. Soon I find myself down at an automotive shop next to a gas station around Fort Lauderdale or so. I am puttering around this seemingly abandoned shop, and come across a bag of some kind of chemical that is used in repairing cars, and since it just seems to be sitting there, I stick it in my backpack.

I wander around a little bit, and find myself on a slight hill, looking at a short (about four feet tall) fence separating me from a gas station with another auto shop as a part of it. It is a station where I have often been in dreams before, and I have also had work done there before on my scooter. I try to climb over the short fence, though my knee is giving me troubles, and I also get a little too close to a kid in a red baseball cap, which seems to make the adults in the area (his parents?) a little nervous. But I ignore them and move on. As I approach the gas station, I find out that they are working on my scooter once again, and are warning me that they probably won't have it ready until tomorrow. I have no money, and no other transportation, and I'm thinking to myself that I guess I will be spending the night sleeping in their parking lot. The guy then tells me "And you can't stay here!" Darn! But on the other hand, my car (yes, it is now a car) is ready.

I guess I am half driving it to the payment counter, and half making a delivery, because I pull up to a spot that is not a parking space (like the diagonal white lines that aren't a parking space, but mark off extra space next to a handicapped spot) because I am only going to be here for a moment, either making the payment, or making a delivery, but the guy goes nuts, and tells me I am not going to park there, even for a moment, and he doesn't like my attitude, and they probably won't use our services any more because of this! He's really mad, and it is ridiculous overkill. For some reason, Graham Murphy is standing there, and is agreeing with him, and I'm figuring I guess Graham isn't really a friend.

I say I will move the car, and am walking toward it, but the guy won't allow me to. He is now searching through my backpack, and finds the bag of chemicals, and claims it is his, and is now after me for stealing, as well. Graham, meanwhile, has taken my car keys, and is moving my car, himself. I call out to him and tell him that he doesn't have my permission to do so, and he just took my keys, so it could be considered grand theft auto. Not going to have him charged, of course, I'm just saying .... Finally, I have had enough, so I push past the guy and make my way to my vehicle, which now seems to be a cross between an ice cream truck and a Mears handicap van. Graham is sitting in it, I guess I am driving him back to Orlando. The kid in the baseball cap is also here, and is asking me for a ride to where he is going, which is a bit north, probably around the West Palm Beach area. Graham explains he isn't really against me, he was agreeing with the jerk because he didn't want an argument, and was just trying to get us out of there quicker. How do I get into these things?

So I am heading north on the Turnpike, until I suddenly find myself driving in a mall parking lot, wondering how the heck I got here, and why I am here ... I should still be on the Turnpike until West Palm Beach. I drive to the edge of the parking lot and turn on to the street. I am approaching the light, and right on the other side of the light is the entrance to the Turnpike. Problem is, the light turns red. I put on the brakes, but they are kind of soft, and I come much closer to the car stopped right in front of me than I would like ... on the other hand, I do manage to stop on time, so it's all good. Problem is, the car that is in the next lane over. It is also trying to stop, and going too fast, and in trying to stop, it clips the car in front of me, and sends it into a spin, and while it is spinning, it hits me. Graham gives out a curse, angry about more delays. So we have a three car fender bender, that was in no way my fault.

I get out of the van, and am getting out my digital camera to snap some pictures of what happened, but Graham immediately begins to drive the van through the intersection and out of traffic. What was the entrance to the Turnpike is now a small, out-of-the-way cul de sac. Now understand, I planned to move us out of the way, but wanted to get a few pictures, first, to help make it clearer what had happened. So now the three damaged cars are all sitting in this little cul de sac, and I am taking pictures while waiting for the cops to show up. Another guy tells me not to bother, because he is taking video footage of the whole thing, but I still plan on taking my own pictures. One of the cars contained a lady and a kid, and they are leaning against their car (I think the one that got clipped) and there is an elderly couple who were in the car that started the whole thing.

I glance back at the intersection, and find that there has been another accident, and this one is really bad. There are some severely mangled vehicles, and I can see them stuffing bodies in body bags as cops direct traffic, and fire trucks and ambulances drive off. I tell the people around me that it may be a while before the cops can get to us, but remind them at least none of us got hurt. Meanwhile, the side of my van shows an advertisement for coffee machines and supplies, and there is a lady standing there that wants me to come in to her place of work an install a coffee machine right now. I'm wondering about a company that does both courier work and coffee services in the same truck, and trying to explain I am not a part of the coffee side of the business.