On Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 8:19:30 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> Buffet?
> The dreamer was standing in a line with an array of food items laid out on a table, like how a line of people pass by and each diner picks items to place on one's plate.
>
> The dreamer picked a slab of meat that looked to be around 1" thick and, although it was shaped between a square and a circle, had a width dimension of around 6" (diameter of circle, 6" x 6" as a square.)
>
> There was also some element similar to a pan of mashed potatoes, and some innocuous element of choosing/declining what all was to be selected for the plate. The dream was less than perfectly clear during the dreaming, so any fuzziness (evaporation) is more like a lack of clarity during the dream itself, clarity 8-.
>
> Alien blood samples:
> Aside from the dreamer, there was one other tech (technician, a person capable of drawing blood using a needle/syringe/phlebotomist, could've been a male *or* a female, it just wasn't clear in the dream) an alien (sort of an amorphous figure of a person, except imagine a skin of white, cloud-like (marshmallow?) appearance, even though [he(?)] used human speech / language to some extent. There was also another person, like a lady of perhaps her tougher 40s, maybe 50s, like a "head nurse of the clinic" type person. Only the alien / white cloud figure was different from the others, assuming the dreamer was human as well.
>
> The action begins with the dreamer being given the task of drawing blood *from* the white-cloudy-guy. There were no apparent veins or even arteries, so the dreamer just jabbed the needle into the "cloudy guy's" forehead and attempting to draw back the plunger so as to fill the cylinder of the syringe with blood. (Obviously, this was not the vacuum-type blood collection tubes used in most medical facilities today.)
>
> Only about 0.1 ml of blood was collected (*maybe* 0.15? based on an estimate of a photo of various syringes I just looked at online) and the dreamer shows the syringe (containing red blood) asks the nurse plaintively, fearing what the answer would be, "Is this enough?"
>
> "No," says the nurse, flatly, and whether it was said or implied, the message was clear: [Go back and get enough to fill the syringe.]
>
> The dreamer returned to the cloudy-white guy, who curiously enough *could* have had my face, but if so, it was *obscured* by the full-white envelope around him. I'd really like to describe this "alien" better, but how? There's the "Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man" in the movie "Ghost Busters", but that actually looked like a puffy, sailor-dressed marshmallow. The Pillsbury dough-boy looks like a pudgy little figure made of dough. The alien looked humanoid, but with a *layer* of cloud-whiteness for flesh / skin.
>
> At any rate, the dreamer dutifully jabbed the needle back into the forehead of the alien, still unable to see any veins or arteries (although the dreamer was only scanning around the neck, rather than the arms or anywhere else.)
>
> The alien spoke a word of admonishment, something like, "maybe that other tech can give you some tips," as though the other tech obviously understood the process and knew what s/he was doing. (I use "s/he" not because of any "pronoun confusion," but because I'm unclear as to what actual gender the other person may have been. That happens in dreams, ya know.)
>
> The dreamer had a job to do: to draw blood from the alien. So the dreamer just jabbed the needle back into the alien's cloudy, white forehead and drew back on the plunger of the syringe (in an attempt to draw more blood.)
>
> There was the *sense* as the dream ended at that point, that the dreamer either was *or would eventually be* successful, so the dream ended there, clarity a bit "cloudy" as it were :-)
>
> I had a thought to dig out a voice recorder last night in order to take some verbal notes in the middle of the night so as to remember a *batch* of dreams (that have since evaporated) so those are about the only two that I remember.
************************************************************************************************************************
Buffet
You must of been to a self serve place. That was a really large piece of meat. Did you remember to put gravy on those potatoes?? I also liked your alien blood dream.
Sandy$

On Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 9:03:17 AM UTC-6, sandy$ wrote:
> On Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 8:19:30 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> > Buffet?
> > The dreamer was standing in a line with an array of food items laid out on a table, like how a line of people pass by and each diner picks items to place on one's plate.
> >
> > The dreamer picked a slab of meat that looked to be around 1" thick and, although it was shaped between a square and a circle, had a width dimension of around 6" (diameter of circle, 6" x 6" as a square.)
> >
> > There was also some element similar to a pan of mashed potatoes, and some innocuous element of choosing/declining what all was to be selected for the plate. The dream was less than perfectly clear during the dreaming, so any fuzziness (evaporation) is more like a lack of clarity during the dream itself, clarity 8-.
> >
> > Alien blood samples:
> > Aside from the dreamer, there was one other tech (technician, a person capable of drawing blood using a needle/syringe/phlebotomist, could've been a male *or* a female, it just wasn't clear in the dream) an alien (sort of an amorphous figure of a person, except imagine a skin of white, cloud-like (marshmallow?) appearance, even though [he(?)] used human speech / language to some extent. There was also another person, like a lady of perhaps her tougher 40s, maybe 50s, like a "head nurse of the clinic" type person. Only the alien / white cloud figure was different from the others, assuming the dreamer was human as well.
> >
> > The action begins with the dreamer being given the task of drawing blood *from* the white-cloudy-guy. There were no apparent veins or even arteries, so the dreamer just jabbed the needle into the "cloudy guy's" forehead and attempting to draw back the plunger so as to fill the cylinder of the syringe with blood. (Obviously, this was not the vacuum-type blood collection tubes used in most medical facilities today.)
> >
> > Only about 0.1 ml of blood was collected (*maybe* 0.15? based on an estimate of a photo of various syringes I just looked at online) and the dreamer shows the syringe (containing red blood) asks the nurse plaintively, fearing what the answer would be, "Is this enough?"
> >
> > "No," says the nurse, flatly, and whether it was said or implied, the message was clear: [Go back and get enough to fill the syringe.]
> >
> > The dreamer returned to the cloudy-white guy, who curiously enough *could* have had my face, but if so, it was *obscured* by the full-white envelope around him. I'd really like to describe this "alien" better, but how? There's the "Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man" in the movie "Ghost Busters", but that actually looked like a puffy, sailor-dressed marshmallow. The Pillsbury dough-boy looks like a pudgy little figure made of dough. The alien looked humanoid, but with a *layer* of cloud-whiteness for flesh / skin.
> >
> > At any rate, the dreamer dutifully jabbed the needle back into the forehead of the alien, still unable to see any veins or arteries (although the dreamer was only scanning around the neck, rather than the arms or anywhere else.)
> >
> > The alien spoke a word of admonishment, something like, "maybe that other tech can give you some tips," as though the other tech obviously understood the process and knew what s/he was doing. (I use "s/he" not because of any "pronoun confusion," but because I'm unclear as to what actual gender the other person may have been. That happens in dreams, ya know.)
> >
> > The dreamer had a job to do: to draw blood from the alien. So the dreamer just jabbed the needle back into the alien's cloudy, white forehead and drew back on the plunger of the syringe (in an attempt to draw more blood.)
> >
> > There was the *sense* as the dream ended at that point, that the dreamer either was *or would eventually be* successful, so the dream ended there, clarity a bit "cloudy" as it were :-)
> >
> > I had a thought to dig out a voice recorder last night in order to take some verbal notes in the middle of the night so as to remember a *batch* of dreams (that have since evaporated) so those are about the only two that I remember.
> ************************************************************************************************************************
> Buffet
> You must of been to a self serve place.

That was my impression of the scene during the dream itself.

> That was a really large piece of meat.

That did cross my mind as well, but I also had a thought akin to: "Maybe this is how much this dream person actually eats?!?!?"

> Did you remember to put gravy on those potatoes??

Actually, the *last* potatoes I ate IRL (in real life) were "au gratin" (like cheesy-potato balls) and thus required no gravy. The food stuff in the dream reminded me of those. (My sister Sherry sent some "Omaha Steaks" food to my mother for Thanksgiving, IRL.) Other than that, I usually make those instant type that come in a pouch, add 2 cups boiling water, and *done*! Add butter, *maybe* gravy if available, but even bacon grease works well. Making gravy is something I actually never really learned, other than something like adding flour to the grease??

> I also liked your alien blood dream.

You'll *never* guess what happened in the day(s) following that dream!

A *photo* (a "selfie!") of Gina appeared in some content sent to me over the internet! (I suspect "my heart bleeds for Gina" or "I bleed Gina" may be some type of applicable turn of phrase. Speaking of which, I had at *least* one *major* dream about her last night / this morning— Still working on getting it posted into the newsgroup.)

On Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 8:28:39 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> On Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 9:03:17 AM UTC-6, sandy$ wrote:
> > On Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 8:19:30 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> > > Buffet?
> > > The dreamer was standing in a line with an array of food items laid out on a table, like how a line of people pass by and each diner picks items to place on one's plate.
> > >
> > > The dreamer picked a slab of meat that looked to be around 1" thick and, although it was shaped between a square and a circle, had a width dimension of around 6" (diameter of circle, 6" x 6" as a square.)
> > >
> > > There was also some element similar to a pan of mashed potatoes, and some innocuous element of choosing/declining what all was to be selected for the plate. The dream was less than perfectly clear during the dreaming, so any fuzziness (evaporation) is more like a lack of clarity during the dream itself, clarity 8-.
> > >
> > > Alien blood samples:
> > > Aside from the dreamer, there was one other tech (technician, a person capable of drawing blood using a needle/syringe/phlebotomist, could've been a male *or* a female, it just wasn't clear in the dream) an alien (sort of an amorphous figure of a person, except imagine a skin of white, cloud-like (marshmallow?) appearance, even though [he(?)] used human speech / language to some extent. There was also another person, like a lady of perhaps her tougher 40s, maybe 50s, like a "head nurse of the clinic" type person. Only the alien / white cloud figure was different from the others, assuming the dreamer was human as well.
> > >
> > > The action begins with the dreamer being given the task of drawing blood *from* the white-cloudy-guy. There were no apparent veins or even arteries, so the dreamer just jabbed the needle into the "cloudy guy's" forehead and attempting to draw back the plunger so as to fill the cylinder of the syringe with blood. (Obviously, this was not the vacuum-type blood collection tubes used in most medical facilities today.)
> > >
> > > Only about 0.1 ml of blood was collected (*maybe* 0.15? based on an estimate of a photo of various syringes I just looked at online) and the dreamer shows the syringe (containing red blood) asks the nurse plaintively, fearing what the answer would be, "Is this enough?"
> > >
> > > "No," says the nurse, flatly, and whether it was said or implied, the message was clear: [Go back and get enough to fill the syringe.]
> > >
> > > The dreamer returned to the cloudy-white guy, who curiously enough *could* have had my face, but if so, it was *obscured* by the full-white envelope around him. I'd really like to describe this "alien" better, but how? There's the "Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man" in the movie "Ghost Busters", but that actually looked like a puffy, sailor-dressed marshmallow. The Pillsbury dough-boy looks like a pudgy little figure made of dough. The alien looked humanoid, but with a *layer* of cloud-whiteness for flesh / skin.
> > >
> > > At any rate, the dreamer dutifully jabbed the needle back into the forehead of the alien, still unable to see any veins or arteries (although the dreamer was only scanning around the neck, rather than the arms or anywhere else.)
> > >
> > > The alien spoke a word of admonishment, something like, "maybe that other tech can give you some tips," as though the other tech obviously understood the process and knew what s/he was doing. (I use "s/he" not because of any "pronoun confusion," but because I'm unclear as to what actual gender the other person may have been. That happens in dreams, ya know.)
> > >
> > > The dreamer had a job to do: to draw blood from the alien. So the dreamer just jabbed the needle back into the alien's cloudy, white forehead and drew back on the plunger of the syringe (in an attempt to draw more blood..)
> > >
> > > There was the *sense* as the dream ended at that point, that the dreamer either was *or would eventually be* successful, so the dream ended there, clarity a bit "cloudy" as it were :-)
> > >
> > > I had a thought to dig out a voice recorder last night in order to take some verbal notes in the middle of the night so as to remember a *batch* of dreams (that have since evaporated) so those are about the only two that I remember.
> > ************************************************************************************************************************
> > Buffet
> > You must of been to a self serve place.
> That was my impression of the scene during the dream itself.
> > That was a really large piece of meat.
> That did cross my mind as well, but I also had a thought akin to: "Maybe this is how much this dream person actually eats?!?!?"
> > Did you remember to put gravy on those potatoes??
> Actually, the *last* potatoes I ate IRL (in real life) were "au gratin" (like cheesy-potato balls) and thus required no gravy. The food stuff in the dream reminded me of those. (My sister Sherry sent some "Omaha Steaks" food to my mother for Thanksgiving, IRL.) Other than that, I usually make those instant type that come in a pouch, add 2 cups boiling water, and *done*! Add butter, *maybe* gravy if available, but even bacon grease works well. Making gravy is something I actually never really learned, other than something like adding flour to the grease??
> > I also liked your alien blood dream.
> You'll *never* guess what happened in the day(s) following that dream!
>
> A *photo* (a "selfie!") of Gina appeared in some content sent to me over the internet! (I suspect "my heart bleeds for Gina" or "I bleed Gina" may be some type of applicable turn of phrase. Speaking of which, I had at *least* one *major* dream about her last night / this morning— Still working on getting it posted into the newsgroup.)
*************************************************************************************************************
Well Dick, There is nothing better than "real mashed" potatoes. Just peal, cut into chunks, cook in a little water, then add butter and whole milk and mash. I use my electric beaters as it is a lot quicker.
Sandy$

On Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 9:05:46 AM UTC-6, sandy$ wrote:
> On Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 8:28:39 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
<snip>
> > Actually, the *last* potatoes I ate IRL (in real life) were "au gratin" (like cheesy-potato balls) and thus required no gravy. The food stuff in the dream reminded me of those. (My sister Sherry sent some "Omaha Steaks" food to my mother for Thanksgiving, IRL.) Other than that, I usually make those instant type that come in a pouch, add 2 cups boiling water, and *done*! Add butter, *maybe* gravy if available, but even bacon grease works well. Making gravy is something I actually never really learned, other than something like adding flour to the grease??
<snip>
> *************************************************************************************************************
> Well Dick, There is nothing better than "real mashed" potatoes. Just peal, cut into chunks, cook in a little water, then add butter and whole milk and mash. I use my electric beaters as it is a lot quicker.
> Sandy$

OK, I'm "open to suggestion" here (which is *extremely rare* for me!) but: how much water? Let's say you cut the taters into 1" cubes (roughly) — would you add just enough water to cover the cubes, assuming the bottom of the pot is *filled* with one layer of cubes?

(As a guy, I'd likely *mash* the taters, but a blender *does* come to mind.....)

On Wednesday, December 20, 2023 at 8:38:00 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 19, 2023 at 9:05:46 AM UTC-6, sandy$ wrote:
> > On Sunday, December 17, 2023 at 8:28:39 AM UTC-7, Richard Silk wrote:
> <snip>
> > > Actually, the *last* potatoes I ate IRL (in real life) were "au gratin" (like cheesy-potato balls) and thus required no gravy. The food stuff in the dream reminded me of those. (My sister Sherry sent some "Omaha Steaks" food to my mother for Thanksgiving, IRL.) Other than that, I usually make those instant type that come in a pouch, add 2 cups boiling water, and *done*! Add butter, *maybe* gravy if available, but even bacon grease works well. Making gravy is something I actually never really learned, other than something like adding flour to the grease??
> <snip>
> > *************************************************************************************************************
> > Well Dick, There is nothing better than "real mashed" potatoes. Just peal, cut into chunks, cook in a little water, then add butter and whole milk and mash. I use my electric beaters as it is a lot quicker.
> > Sandy$
> OK, I'm "open to suggestion" here (which is *extremely rare* for me!) but: how much water? Let's say you cut the taters into 1" cubes (roughly) — would you add just enough water to cover the cubes, assuming the bottom of the pot is *filled* with one layer of cubes?
>
> (As a guy, I'd likely *mash* the taters, but a blender *does* come to mind....)
**********************************************************************************************************************************
I would cut the potatoes larger that 1 inch, maybe 2 inches, add some water, after the potatoes are done, discard the water, then add butter and milk and I use a hand mixer to mash. If you use a blender you may have trouble getting the taters put.
Sandy$

On Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 9:34:29 AM UTC-6, sandy$ wrote:
> > <snip>
> > > *************************************************************************************************************
> > > Well Dick, There is nothing better than "real mashed" potatoes. Just peal, cut into chunks, cook in a little water, then add butter and whole milk and mash. I use my electric beaters as it is a lot quicker.
> > > Sandy$
> > OK, I'm "open to suggestion" here (which is *extremely rare* for me!) but: how much water? Let's say you cut the taters into 1" cubes (roughly) — would you add just enough water to cover the cubes, assuming the bottom of the pot is *filled* with one layer of cubes?
> >
> > (As a guy, I'd likely *mash* the taters, but a blender *does* come to mind....)
> **********************************************************************************************************************************
> I would cut the potatoes larger that 1 inch, maybe 2 inches, add some water, after the potatoes are done, discard the water, then add butter and milk and I use a hand mixer to mash. If you use a blender you may have trouble getting the taters put.

So the water is *only* for softening up the taters, from crunch to mashy... right?
.... trouble getting the taters *what?* ("out"?) That's what a spatula is for <grin>