Tag: University of Bern

Bern – 90GHz­—UBS Dream 02-07-2021

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I woke up this morning at 6AM and was pretty sure that I would not go back to sleep. I did and had this dream. When I tried to wake up my right eye was difficult to open it been sealed with sleep. As an aside since I stopped smoking, I have had much more gummy eyes with loads of sleep. Here is the dream.

I am in a vast laboratory. It is filled with optical benches upon which are optical components and lasers. I know this laboratory to be in Bern Switzerland. Unusually for this kind of laboratory one can see out of the windows and to the town below. W is excited he has received a parcel and is busy unwrapping it. It is a new slim, top of the range, Tektronix digital storage oscilloscope. It has all of the functions of the bulkier models but is slimmed down. I say to W that I can help him understand how to use it because all of the experiments at the lab of S used one of these. All we need first is a square wave waveform generator so that we can have a play. Ben C says that he thinks there is one in the store. I go with him to the store and there is a pile of instrumentation. I see one with the name GR on it and note that it is odd that it should be here in Bern. BC finds a square wave generator and hands it to me. He says that it starts at 90GHz. I comment that it might be a bit too high frequency for the oscilloscope. He says that probably not, the scope may not capture all of the waveform but should be Ok for us to play with. I go over to W.

Next, we are back in the flat. It is full of youngish men who all work at the laboratory. We are all sleeping in one bed. It is somehow on a veranda outside the house. I wake up and decide to go shopping. I look across the valley where this is a night club called Bodhisattva. We all sometimes go there. I think that it will be nice to look at Migros again. As I go into the shop there is a queue for baskets, and I am behind an old Swiss man. He unpacks the baskets and hands me one. I go into the store and am at the fruit counter. It is immaculately laid out with very high-quality produce from around the world. It is even better than I remembered it. I get some groceries and take them back to the flat. Where I put them in a bag in the pantry. I explain to W that it is very nice to see high quality Swiss produce as things here are not so consistent.

In the dream I have paid with a UK credit card but to my surprise my UBS bank card is also in my wallet.

We are back in the laboratory, and I know that I have a job there. It has been easy to set up because my Swiss Bank account at UBS is still active {in reality this is not the case}. We play with the oscilloscope for a while.

Next, I am back in the flat asleep in the big bed with a whole bunch of other people. The wife is there next to me. I am on the extreme edge of the bed, and she is nestled in my left arm. I kiss her on the brow, and everybody wakes up. I ask what time it is. Close to midday. I comment that is late. Not if you were up drinking and smoking {implied cannabis}.

I had better rush to get to the bank before it closes. I rush of down hill concerned that I will fall because of my left hip. I am a bit awkward running down the hill. I need to get to the bank to ask them for a new PIN number for my bank card. I know that all I have to do is ask because they will recognise me. I could ask in English or German or even French. As I am running down the hill, I rehearse what words I would need first in Hoch Deutsch and second in French. In my mind I know that the language I will choose depends upon who I meet at the bank counter.

Dream ends.

Hospital – Zürich – Pinocchio – Crocodiles Dream 30-10-23.

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Here is this morning’s dream. It seems out of the blue and at odds with my current life context.

The dream opens inside a hospital. I am talking to a young woman in a white coat there. She is asking me to talk to some of the people who have been stuck in the hospital for a long time. She gathers a few of them around they are all young and white. One of them who has been in for a long time asks me which illnesses I have had. I reply saying cancer and a broken hip. Only cancer I say. I say that I was only in hospital for a few days. She says that I should talk to Em who is in the other room. She has a number tattooed inside her cheek.

I go to Em’s room and there is a very beautiful young woman with blonde hair in a bob. She is wearing a white hospital gown with sparse tiny black flecks. I ask her to show me her tattoo. She shows me the inside of her left cheek and there is indeed a number written there. We joke about how these open at the back hospital gowns make it difficult to maintain modesty. I don one and clown around for her.

The reason they tattoo numbers is because she does not have health insurance and they need to know on whom they are operating. I notice a Swiss text on her bedside table.

I ask her, “are you Swiss?”

“Yes”

“From Zürich?”

“Yes…”

There is now a tall young man with very dark hair in the room.

I explain that I used to live in Switzerland and once worked at the University of Bern. I say that I know some people who may still be at ETH.

She says that she used to live near ETH.

The young man chirps up and says that he has to show me a video.

I go with him back to his room. He is a science teacher. He picks up a tablet computer which is very fancy with dials and other lights on it. He boots it up and using the touch screen scrolls through some files. He finds a video. He turns to show me the video. It zooms in on me doing a science demonstration for children. I am wearing my blue jacket and a pink shirt. It is a part of a series on how to present.

He says I thought I knew you from somewhere. That video is from an event I attended at Zürich. I recognised you from there.

I am gobsmacked. He says that he too is a bit of an intellectual like me. I say that I don’t consider myself an intellectual anymore. He is very exuberant.

We go back to the Swiss girl’s room and he shows her the video too.

I notice that it is misty outside and say that I need to get some fresh air. There is some confusion over which slippers to put on my feet. There is a pile of them and some do not fit, others I do not like the look of. I settle for some espadrilles or kung fu slippers. 

They tell me to be careful.

Once I am outside in the mist I am in an inordinately good mood. I start to jog. Coming down the path in the opposite direction to me is a man with a white carrier bag. I feign to do a rugby tackle on him. He joins in the fun and we both beam a smile at each other.

Further down the path there are some people playing at pirates. There is a small child sized man who is wearing a white loincloth with a bandana. He is brown in colour and waving a cutlass about. He strikes me with the cutlass across the back.

It hurts but does not wound. I pick him up and he drops the cutlass.

I tell him to apologise. He refuses.

I am now holding him easily by both of his feet. I tell him that unless he apologises, I will dunk him in the pond.

He refuses. I dunk his head into the water for a few seconds. His face is now white, clean.

He says that that hurt.

Again, I ask him to apologise.

He says that he will never apologise to me, not ever.

I dip him this time bodily and he disintegrates into the water.

I reach into the water and pull out the pieces of a plastic toy bus which I assemble. There is a show cage on top of the bus. I reach down and find a plastic toy Pinocchio in two parts. I put the top half to the bottom half. I then insert Pinocchio into the cage. His nose has grown a little because of lying. I know Pinocchio and the man in the loin cloth to be one and the same. He has morphed into Pinocchio.

I close the door of the cage because that is where Pinocchio is most comfortable inside his cage.

I move on deeper into the park and I am joined by a woman with dark brownish hair. She feels familiar but we have never been introduced. Somehow, she has heard more about me than I about her. She has watched the whole Pinocchio scene.

As we progress along the path, we can see a pond across it. In it there is a small non-descript furry animal in the water. It is a bit like a sloth or lemur. The animal is wet through.

Around the animal closing in are a number of mid-size crocodiles. The woman run towards the animal to try to save it.

I shout out, “No!!!”

Nevertheless, she enters the water and picks up the animal. As she is trying to leave the pond one of the crocodiles grabs her leg and starts pulling her under.

I shout, “Oh no, not again.”

{In real life, as a child, I saw a game warden pulled under by a Nile crocodile about ten metres away from me.}

The crocodile drags her and the animal off under a piece of corrugated steel roofing in the water. The other crocodiles converge.

I find a large thick wooden pole and start to strike the crocodile who is biting her (Susan?) on the leg. I strike it several times.

I wake up with a start and was unable to re-enter this dream to find out what happened. I come downstairs put the coffee on and start typing.

Being Investigated – Security Services Dreams 2020-23

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Being Investigated Dream 31-12-20

I had a much better sleep last night after some hard labour in the garden.

I am having a discussion with my sister, which turns into an argument. She is convinced that she will win the argument and is completely unwilling to accept that I will disappear and walk away. The argument gets more heated and I walk out into some fields. I disappear.

I am then in a test plane vehicle which is high technology, and it is being used to measure the effect of air viscosity, and gravity on velocity. I fly it up high into the atmosphere and as it crosses bands of gas of differing viscosity its trajectory alters. It reaches maximum height and turns. It then plummets to earth and towards the sea. It reaches terminal velocity, and I am unconcerned.

I awake in a hospital bed. Apparently, the test mission has been a success. I am well.

Later I meet a young version of my old landlord, J . He asks me how come I was on the test mission. I tell him that I do not recollect how. We search the internet for a picture of the test vehicle, we can’t find one, but he knows the kind of thing I am talking about. He is quite adept at using a touch screen computer, something which I am not.

He tells me that people have been asking after me and that they have also contacted my sister to inquire after me. J thinks that people are investigating me. He thinks they are doing a deep background check on me. He is curious as to why.

I awake and have a very strong visual image of two of my former colleagues.

Security Vetting Dream 26-07-21

I had a bit of a sleepless night and had this strange dream this morning.

In the dream I am looking in on a meeting where for whatever reason I am being discussed by two smartly dressed individuals. One of these is male and the other, younger one, is female.  They are going through some kind of security vetting protocol and for whatever reason my name has cropped up. They are looking through a file and this includes some of my past addresses. They do not seem to have my current address.

There is a discussion as to whether they need to find my address and if I need to be interviewed, if someone needs to have sight of me. They are surprised that I have “disappeared” but not in a dramatic way. There is a bit of a non sequitur but not much concern.

The dream then re-iterates from the opening scene. No decision as to what to do has been made, yet.

I awake thinking that was a bit weird…

Himalayan Monastery – Security Forces Dream 5-1-23

This is the first of a whole dreaming sequence that was too extensive to remember in its entirety.

The dream starts off with me talking to my sister. She is having to explain to security why she has no idea as to my whereabouts.

The scene shifts and I am in a kind of shared guest accommodation in a Himalayan Buddhist monastery. There are a few younger dharma bums there. Some of the people in the room are wearing monk’s robes. I have partial robes on.

A young white man gets us to do stretching exercises. He is an accepted novice. He then goes around the room projecting Ki at us. The idea is that we should let the Ki move us backward. He comes to me. The first time he projects Ki at me I allow it to move me backwards. The next time I project Ki back and it is he who moves backwards. I explain that way back I did some martial arts. He says I bet that they are not as good as those at this monastery. I agree.

They have decided that they want me to help with the technical running of the establishment. Particularly with the laser lighting. A young man shows me a small circuit board which has stopped working. I examine it and one of the chips has come loose from its housing. I place this carefully back and the circuit board is now functional. The young man brings me three flashlamps wired together. They come from the O lasers which they have. Together we hold the lamps and they light up, the static electricity raises the hairs on our arms.

I take a walk to the edge of the compound where there is a fence. I climb over the fence. A young man asks me if I would like sex. I reply that no I am not homosexual. He says never mind. Apparently when some of the younger monks leave the compound they do so in search of gratification. The scenery around is Himalayan and absolutely stunning. I climb back over the fence.

As I am making my way to the main temple building, I notice two military helicopters circling. They are headed to the helipad on the flat part of the mountainside just outside the main compound. One of them lands and the other takes up a covering position with its machine guns. Out of the first helicopter a collection of people in non-standard military uniform gets out. They are armed but their weapons are not drawn. The fan out in a very professional looking manner. One of them a black woman who has the presence of an officer walks forward.

The Abbot fully robed and with a ceremonial hat moves forward to check what they want. The woman says that they want to check on some of the guests. The Abbots says that this is Ok. She calls out the name Isobel and German woman moves towards them. They start to question her.

In the dream I know that I am next. So, I make my way towards them. When the woman calls out my name I am already there. She hands me over to a senior civilian man of middle age who speaks with a Bostonian accent. He takes me to one side and asks me to recount my history as an adult.  I do this explaining that The Royal Institution is very niche and has the highest Nobel prize per capita density. I talk about UCL, Imperial, UMIST and Bern. When I get to the laser spin out, he goes bingo. Somehow it is me that they have come here for. He is struggling to comprehend how come I am here up at this monastery in the Himalayas. It does not make sense to him.

Dream ends

Security Services Interview Dream 17-7-23

Here is this morning’s dream.

The dream starts in some kind of a travel terminus going into the UK. I have with me my small grey rucksack and am dressed in dark jeans, a t-shirt and my Berghaus fleece. It is very early in the morning and the travellers are sparse. We have just disembarked and are making our way through the terminal.

We get to passport control. I wait in line. When it is my turn, I step forward and present my British passport. The passport control is for entry into the UK. The man on the booth says hello takes my passport and puts it trough the scanner. He picks up a telephone and calls someone. The man in the booth is dressed in border control uniform. Two more men in border control uniform and one in civilian clothes arrive at the booth. The man in civvies says, “Dr Taylor we would like to have a word with you. Please can you accompany us?” I reply OK and follow them off towards a side room. I note that one of the uniformed officers takes up a position behind me as we are walking.

They lead me off down a corridor. The lead man uses an identity card on a lanyard to open a security door and I am led off into an interview room in which there is a big desk with computer. The civies man sits behind the desk and boots up the computer. There is an electronic device, a passport reader, connected to the computer.

He ushers me to sit down the other side of the desk. I do this and place my rucksack on the floor.

The atmosphere is authoritative and mildly threatening. I can sense the two uniformed officer behind me either side of the door.

The civies man runs my passport through the reader and brings up my file on the computer. I can sense that the file has “classified” elements to it and that the man in the passport booth was alerted to it and not privy.

I understand the civies man to be a member of the security services and not simply border control.

He asks me the motive of my visit to the UK and I say that I am going to look at houses. He asks me my place and date of birth. He wants more details than town. He asks me the name of my parents.

This all seems odd and increasingly intrusive.

He asks me about the relationship with my sister.

I say, “fine”.

He says that this is not what the security report from her place of work says.

“Ok”, I say, “It is fine but we are estranged. We have not spoken in many years.”

He asks about my politics.

I explain that probably when his report was written it might be down as left of labour. My sister and my father were Tories, my mother vacillated. I argued for the fun of it. While I was a Ph.D. student, I dabbled a tiny bit with left wing politics. Now I would describe myself as apolitical. Unimpressed generally. I add that I am glad that Jeremy Hunt is now part of the team as he seems more stable than many of the others.

He seems unconvinced.

I say to him that I am not aware that I have done anything wrong nor am I in anyway a threat to security.

I say that I believe in harmlessness.

He says that he does not buy what I am saying. There is a “flag” on my file and that I am under surveillance.

The dream ends…

Guru Deva – Elephant – Sahasrāra – Dream 21-01-21

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This dream was preceded by another which follows. They both had a very strong Indian theme.

I am going to the port to meet Guru Deva. He has been long expected and he comes for me.  I meet him as he gets off a rather small ship into a small tropical port. He is a young Indian man in his mid-thirties. He is wearing only a loincloth. His chest is muscled and hairy and his hair if of medium length. It is jet black and scruffy. He has a glint in his eye and is very pleased to see me. He gives me a big hug and then we bow namaste.

I lead him off to show him our library. The women there are a little put off by his near nakedness. He touches one of them on the arm and she recoils shocked. He tells me telepathically that it takes western women a while to get used to his earthiness.

We move on through a grassy park where people are playing cricket to some kind of bridge or underpass. There are big, vaulted pillars. His team are there, and they welcome us with music. The male dancers who are similarly dressed as Guru Deva, start dancing. They then line up in two lines. They raise oblong sheets of shiny metal, much like shields to make a corridor. Then Guru Deva leads a large elephant along the corridor. This elephant is for me. The dancers converge and the elephant disappears into a small toy elephant which Guru Deva hands over to me with a big smile.

We then go down to a beach. The tide has not long gone out. The sand is firm. Guru Deva then intimates mind to mind that I must watch carefully what he does next. He dances a thousand petalled lotus into the sand, a Sahasrāra.

It is for me and he has danced it for me.

Dream ends.

In the previous dream I am walking around an immaculate older building in London. As I am walking, I am speaking with a small young Indian woman dressed in a sari. She has extremely lustrous jet-black hair. Her English is impeccable with an upper-class accent. She is asking me about my academic background in a very respectful way. I speak to her about University College London, The Royal Institution, Berne and Imperial College. She is fascinated and polite. She leads me through a door and as she does this, I understand that this palatial home belongs to her family which is very wealthy.

Dream ends.